The Lake Naivasha management has called on the County government to formulate a lasting solution to the Tilapia shortage in the lake.
According to the quality and breeding supervisor Mr Elvis Kinuthia, ever since the Carp species was introduced in the lake, the Tilapia species levels have deteriorated.
This is attributed to the prowess of the Carp fish that allows it to feed on the Tilapia fingerlings posing a direct impact on their breeding.
“We are worried because fishermen are complaining of incurring losses because there is no assured supply of Tilapia which is their main source of income,” he said.
He noted that there was a class of priorities because as much as the government introduce the rare species to cub the growth of water hyacinth at the lake, the fishermen were out to reap from fish sale and Tilapia was their main source.
“The situation is slowly getting out of hand because a majority of them (fishermen) are in business; they hire the boats they use for fishing and are lamenting about the upsurge of the Carp fish,” he added.
A majority of fishermen threatened to boycott the facility if the shortage was not looked into arguing that their grievances have been ignored by the relevant authorities.
“We want an introduction of more Tilapia fingerlings in the lake because that is our food and a source of income for maintaining our families. If nothing is done in a week’s time, we better let the government invest in their desired species because there will be nothing we will be gaining from the lake as fishermen,” offered Meshak Ndung’u.
This comes barely a week after Nakuru governor signed a memorandum of understanding with a delegation from Beijing Xidan; a Chinese farm that is has taken up the task of setting up a multi-million fish processing plant in Naivasha.