The CS Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperatives Peter Munya flagged off 2 vessels for the training of deep-sea Fishers at the Liwatoni Fishing Complex in Mombasa County, to expand opportunities for employment and wealth creation in the emerging Blue Economy sector. Speaking at the flagging off event, CS Munya said that the training is the first step towards ensuring that there are adequate skills and experience in Kenyan youth to be used by the growing fishing industry to exploit the vast fisheries resources.
“In his commitment to sustainable exploitation of Kenya’s marine fisheries and improving livelihoods for Coastal fishers, the President gave a directive for the training of 1,000 fishermen in deep-sea fishing from the coastal counties of Kwale, Mombasa, Kilifi, Tana River and Lamu,“ said CS Munya. He added that the government will be training 1000 youth each year for the next 5 years. “The inaugural group of trainees has already completed this phase, and today we gather here to flag-off yet another group for the 10-day long practical training at sea. I want to applaud our partners in this venture for the role they continue to play in ensuring the training and its objectives are actualized,” added CS Munya. According to the recent stock assessment surveys conducted by the Kenya Marine Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI) within the Kenya EEZ, indicate healthy stocks of assorted fish species that actually exceed our current vessel capacity targeting these stocks.
With adequate capacity, CS Munya noted that Kenya will be able to land 1,000 MT annually, which can go a long way in providing jobs in fishing, fish handling and processing facilities, support food security in the coast region and enhance fish export to foreign markets. The CS was accompanied by Dr. Francis Owino the PS, State Department of Fisheries Aquaculture, the Blue Economy, and other state officers.
