All fishing and tourism boats operating in Lake Naivasha will be equipped with unique registration number plates aimed at reining in illegal fishing activities.
Kenya Maritime Authority [KMA], Regional Director, Alex Munga, said the identification and marking of all licensed vessels is aimed at enhancing compliance of maritime and fisheries laws so as to achieve effective governance of the sector.
Munga said the exercise is also aimed at addressing the rampant illegal fishing activities in the lake, noting that only licensed vessels will be allowed to operate.
He said all licensed boats operating in the lake will be fitted with reflective plates with different color codes for each specific vessel.
Munga noted that for instance, green will represent fishing vessels, yellow for tourism while orange and purple will represent people and cargo vessels respectively.
He added that clear identification of vessels operating in the lake will ease the enforcement of maritime and fisheries regulations by Kenya Coast Guards officers deplored at the lake.
Munga said that once registration of all vessels is completed, boat operators will be in a position to access banks loans and insurance policies under the blue economy blue-print provisions.
The KMA Director was speaking during a consultative stakeholder’s forum at Lake Naivasha to sensitize and incorporate public views on the exercise.
Tarambeta Beach Chairman, Rajab Omari, welcomed the move to fit new registration plates on licensed boats, saying that they have suffered great loss from incessant attacks from fish poachers.
Omari noted that the loan facilities which will be offered will help them to acquire new vessels while also boosting their business.
By Erastus Gichohi
