The government is set to buy a research and patrol vessel that will assist in combating illegal fishing in the territorial waters.
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Willy Bett said that his ministry is determined to root out illegal fishing to prevent foreigners from plundering our marine fishery resources.
Mr Bett also said that his ministry would invest heavily in research and patrol in the Indian Ocean, to ensure that fishermen are operating in a secure environment.
“Currently we have one vessel that is patrolling and soon we expect another research and patrol vessel that will help us secure our territorial waters so that we are able to exploit our resources. We are also doing sea weed farming,” said the CS who was speaking at the Mombasa ASK show at Mkomani Grounds.
A lack of enough patrol vessels has made it difficult to contain illegal fishing targeting valuable species that threatens to deplete some fish species.
President Uhuru Kenyatta who was also present directed Mr Bett to ensure that fishermen were provided with proper fishing gear.
President Kenyatta said that the national government should work hand in hand with the county governments to ensure proper exploitation of resources in order to create more jobs for the young people.
“Next year when we come back there should be results. We should be able to quantify what we have done. I want us to look at how many boats the national and county government will have bought for the young men to be able to exploit the resources,” he said.