BY EPHREM ANDARAGCHEW
Fisheries are one of the important and renewable natural resource bases for many developing countries, and the livelihood of many rural communities relies on the fishery sector. Accordingly, the sector is key to reducing poverty and diversifying household income directly and indirectly. Studies have shown that in developing countries, over 116 million people are benefited from the fishery sector and more than 90 percent of them are working in the small-scale fisheries sector.
Although the total amount of fish produced from aquaculture is grown from time to time over the past decade, the experiences show that Africa’s fisheries output is dominated by capture fisheries that lack modernity. The benefits gained from the development of fisheries are significant. From local to global levels, fisheries play an important role in the food supply, income generation, employment creation, and nutrition security.
Fish farming has been practiced in different parts of the world including Ethiopia. In Ethiopia, fish production depends on the inland waters for the supply of fish as a cheap source of animal protein. It can also indirectly contribute by providing revenue for purchasing food for deficient areas. The country has different geological formations and climatic conditions and is endowed with considerable water resources and wetland ecosystems, including river basins, major lakes, many swamps, floodplains, and man-made reservoirs.
In Ethiopia, the fish supply in most cases comes from the major lakes and some reservoirs such as Fincha, Hawassa, Tana, Chamo, Ziway, Koka, Abaya, and rivers. Still, its production is underexploited with limited access and production status in the food marketing system. Because the sector is mainly practiced, is threatened by poor production systems with catchment deforestation (shore damage), water pollution and siltation, overfishing, habitat destruction, invasion of non-native species, illegal, unregulated fishing, and poor governance, and is far below its potential.
Hence, improvements in the fishery sector highly contribute to sustaining the livelihood of a rural fishing community and ensuring environmental sustainability in Ethiopia. The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Sustainable Environment Unit Program Manager Eshete Dejen (Ph.D.) said that it is imperative to utilize the untapped fishery sector in the region with a view to alleviating food insecurity problems.
IGAD socioeconomic situation and capacity need assessment of fisheries basin study report indicated that intervention to improve the fisheries sectors in the region in general Ethiopia in particular is key to benefiting the sector. So, scaling up cooperation and coordination between IGAD member states is critical to use sustainable water management and fishery activities to alleviate poverty, Eshete added.
Indeed, the fishery sector can contribute to accelerated economic growth and development, income generation, nutrition, employment and export earnings, and overall food security. Hence, the focus now should be on increased production and value addition since fish has high domestic market demand, can contribute to improved domestic nutrition, and offer good trade opportunities at the global, regional, and national levels, Eshete added.
Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture State Minister Fikru Regassa in his part noted that Ethiopia has been working to utilize its fish resource in collaboration with various stakeholders. “Ethiopia in its 10-year strategic development and the agricultural plan has paid significant attention to the fishery and aquaculture development.”
Indeed, it is well-recognized that fishery development supports the efforts of ensuring food security. Even we can garner a response when we why Ethiopian fisheries are not strong? According to experts in the field of fishery, the overall fishery production potential of Ethiopian water bodies is estimated to be 100, 000 tons per year, while the actual production is 70, 000 tons. Despite more water bodies and more fish diversity in the region, fish production and marketing is very low.
Gatriay Tut Deng 2020 review article “Assessment of Factors Affecting Fish Production and Marketing in Gambella Region, Ethiopia” stated the major underdevelopment factors of fish production. Accordingly, the major factors contributing to fish production are inefficient fishing gear, poor transportation access, poor postharvest handling, low price at the landing site, and improper marketplace.
Besides, drying is the predominant postharvest technique and fishing methods are on a subsistence basis. All the fishing activities take place in the natural environment, and aquaculture is not yet established. Enough modern and efficient gears need to be made available. Other modern postharvest handling techniques need to be introduced to ensure a longer shelf life of fish after harvest. Infrastructures need to be constructed to access all water bodies in the region. Because the country has water resource potential and incredible fish species diversity, aquaculture needs to be established and popularized.
Addis Ababa University Department of Zoological Sciences Aquatic Biology Professor Abebe Getahun noted that fisheries and aquaculture practices in Ethiopia are very much underdeveloped, although the former had been in practice for centuries. Because the natural (capture) fisheries from the lakes, reservoirs, and rivers of the country are mainly artisanal conducted, processed, and marketed under poor conditions. Furthermore, reed and wooden boats are largely used and motorized boats are few and not readily available in the market.
“In the same way, the fisheries resource is open access and there is no strict control or management of the resources and there are extensive Illegal, Unlicensed, and Unreported (IUU) fishery activities. As a result, most of the capture fisheries of the country are overexploited,” he explained.
Cognizant of the underdevelopment of fishery production in Ethiopia, the Ministry of Agriculture has planned to do effective work this fiscal year. Ministry of Agriculture State Minister Fikru Regassa (Ph.D.) said that a lot of work has been done including restructuring the organization to make the sector productive and efficient.
Taking into account the great attention given by the government to the sector, it is necessary to increase the productivity of the sector by working with commitment and coordination between the regions and responsible institutions as well as the projects and programs that support the sector in order to achieve the goals in the development of fish resources, he added.
Central Statistics Agency Director General Ato Birattu Yigezu elucidated that statistical information of the country should be strengthened. Hence, deploying trained and qualified human resources is key to identifying, and organizing accurate aquaculture resource data. Because knowing the strengths and weaknesses of the sector support the concerned body and stakeholders to implement key strategic measures.
Indeed, the government brings promising achievements in completing various developmental projects including summer wheat development across the nation. This achievement should be repeated in fishery production by consolidating the best practices available in the country and working to expand them across the nation. Especially, traditional methods of fishery production should be improved and changed via training and available modern technologies to ensure food insecurity problems across the country.
The Ethiopian Herald October 30/2022
