The County Government of Nakuru says it is working towards finding a sustainable solution to protect Lake Nakuru.
It plans to do this through the involvement of different stakeholders to ensure the major resource is safeguarded against illegal fishing, poaching and human wildlife conflict. Officials from the State Department of Fisheries Management and Research held a two-day joint fact finding mission on the impacts of flooding on fisheries at Lake Naivasha and emerging fishery at Lake Nakuru National Park.
According to Mr. Rodrick Kundu, Ag.Deputy Director State Department for Fisheries Aquaculture & Blue Economy Kenya, handling the situation at the Lake requires a multiagency approach. The team led by the Ag. County Fisheries Director, Mr. Kiarie Kahareri also paid a courtesy call to the office of the Senior Warden, Mr. Collins Ochieng’, at the KWS Office. They later visited the community around Mwariki, Barut ward, to interact with the fishing community and other stakeholders.
Mr. Kahareri said the County is determined to keep off illegal boats and fishermen as this poses a threat to the water body due to uninspected boats that could ferry invasive weeds. Fish samples were collected for lab testing to ascertain that the fish is good for consumption and void of heavy metals that could cause adverse effects after bio-accumulation.
According to the Senior Warden at Lake Nakuru National Park, Mr. Collins Ochieng’, it is important to chart a way forward to help protect the world renowned park and to ensure there’s no poaching and human animal conflict among other challenges. He added that arrests of illegal fishermen in protected areas in the park will go on together with the destruction of their nets.
Accompanying the Directors were other government officials from the State department of Fisheries and KEMFRI.
