Rising prices affect fish too

According to Ms Winnie Naluwaga, a fish monger in Kigungu landing site, the prices of fish have gone up due to factors that are beyond the fishermen’s control. For a month now, the prices have steadily increased by Shs500 and Shs1,000 in different areas. “There are laws that do not allow the fishermen to catch young fish; there is a standard for what fish to be caught in terms of weight. Because of this law, they can’t bring many fish on the market,” she says, adding that for the Nile perch, the law requires that it should be caught when it is 30kg. Too much wind can also hinder the amount of fish on the market. She explains that the fish do not always come out when there is a lot of wind; thus, the fish will be very few leading to high prices.
The rise of fuel prices has also influenced the price.

Ms Nalwanga also attributes the high prices to the high competition on the market. She says, “There are many fishing sites and many fish mongers, so the competition is stiff for both the local and international markets.” She says that as fish traders, they cannot promise the reduction of prices since they cannot control some factors and as long as those factors prevail, the prices will be high.