President Uhuru Kenyatta has urged Coastal counties to expand fishing in the India Ocean, saying it has the potential to create many jobs for the youth.
The President said the counties should work closely with the national Government to help fishermen get bigger boats and other fishing equipment that will enable them fully exploit the marine resources.
He noted that with the current fish production of about 9,000 metric tonnes, the sector directly employs 14,000 fishermen from the coastal communities.
“The potential fish production from Kenya’s Exclusive Economic Zone is estimated to lie between 150,000 metric tonnes to 300,000 metric tonnes,” President Kenyatta said.
He added: “This region sits by the immensely promising blue economy of the Indian Ocean. We are a long way from exploiting the potential of this treasure. This means that the opportunities to generate wealth for this region abound.”
The Head of State was speaking on Thursday when he officially opened this year’s Agricultural Society of Kenya Mombasa International Show.
President Kenyatta said security must be beefed up in the ocean to stop people of other nations from exhausting the marine resources at the expense of local fishermen.
“It is regrettable that our blue economy is not helping Kenyans. Instead it is benefiting fishermen of other countries because they have bigger fishing boats and modern fishing equipment,” President Kenyatta said.
“My aim is to dedicate resources and technical capacity for Kenyans to obtain maximum benefits from the Blue Economy,” he added.
The President said the Government also seeks to promote large-scale public-private partnerships to boost agriculture’s contribution to the country’s economic growth.
By PSCU.