Assessing the impacts of illegal/destructive fishing operations and their socioeconomic impacts at the Kenyan coast

At the Kenyan coast, the importance of artisanal fisheries cannot be overemphasized; historically, they play a vital role in livelihoods and are crucial for nutrition in Kenya. Yet, these resources are especially vulnerable to... [ view full abstract ]

At the Kenyan coast, the importance of artisanal fisheries cannot be overemphasized; historically, they play a vital role in livelihoods and are crucial for nutrition in Kenya. Yet, these resources are especially vulnerable to damage due to overfishing, due to a growing human population and the increasing use of destructive fishing techniques. Over the past decade, the number of fishers has increased tremendously from approximately 6000 to almost 14,000 fishers, as has the number of illegal gears; yet overall catch landings have continued to fluctuate between 5000 and 8000 tonnes.
The situation is further complicated by the fishers’ attitudes - some who believe that the amount of fish they catch is what providence has determined. The current fisheries regulation focuses on prohibition of illegal gears, which include the beach seine, spear gun and the monofilament nets, yet the number of fishers using these gears has continued to increase, further putting pressure on the reefs. Against this backdrop, this study seeks to a) explore the reasons behind the persistent use of illegal fishing gears at the Kenyan coast, (b) analyse the impacts of these fishing methods on livelihoods at the household level and (c) assess their ecological impacts. Individual interviews with selected key informants (KI) using semi-structured interview will be conducted. In addition, Focus Group Discussion (FGD) will target fishers using the illegal and non-illegal fishing methods. This will be complemented by ecological data consisting of catch and size frequency of the target species fished by these methods to evaluate the ecological impacts. We expect the results that the results from this study will contribute towards policy advice, which has been hampered by non-inclusion of fishery dynamics in fisheries developments. This will provide a basis for reviewing and updating the existing regulations to provide the foundation for decision-making and management of the fisheries considering that little emphasis has been put in understanding the link between artisanal fisheries and the peoples’ livelihoods at the Kenyan coast.