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Fishermen express mixed reactions on licence fees
A boat with passengers leaves Masese Landing site in Jinja District to Buvuma District on June 14, 2021. PHOTO/DENIS EDEMA
What you need to know:
- Sector players are expected to first register and all those without valid licences will not be allowed to operate effective April 1.
Fishermen on various lakes across the country have expressed mixed reactions over the licensing fees set by government.
Last month, the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries issued licence fees for all fisheries activities in the country, including fishing, processing, and transportation of fish, boat making and repairing.
The licensing exercise is expected to take place between March 1 and March 31, 2022.
Sector players are expected to first register and all those without valid licences will not be allowed to operate effective April 1.
However, some fishers interviewed for this article claim that the timing for the licensing is not good since they lack the money to pay for the license.
Mr Daniel Kaweesa, a fish trader and transporter at Kyagalanyi Landing Site in Kalangala District, says the annual licence fee of Shs750,000 set for big trucks transporting fish is unreasonable as they no longer carry full capacity.
“It’s very hard these days to get a full truck of fish due to declining fish stocks, but government wants us to pay Shs750,000 for a truck carrying 10 tonnes, which we can hardly get,” he says.
Mr John Rukenda, a fisherman at Katala Landing Site on Lake Albert in Buliisa District, says licensing fees are high and need to be revised downwards.
“Let licence fees be revised before they are imposed on us; a team from the Fisheries Protection Unit has been here destroying our fishing boats and we pay licence for what now?” he wonders.
Mr Rose Kisembo Anyoli, the chairperson of Long Route Water Transporters Association in Buliisa District, says the licence fees are too high especially at this time when transportation of fish is restricted.
“The water transport business is doing badly, there is no cargo (fish) to carry, it is not sensible to pay for a licence when we are carrying less cargo,” he says.
He adds: “It would have been possible for us to pay for a licence knowing that we will have goods to carry. But the government disorganised the fishing industry.”
Concerns
Mr Kisembo says if the government insists on levying licence fees from them, it will indirectly be pushing them out of business.
Mr Gilbert Kabarole, a fisherman at Butiaba Landing Site on Lake Albert, says: “We are struggling to get fish from the lake; the catch is low, where do they expect us to get money to for licence?”
Former Buliisa District chairperson Simon Kinene Agaba, also a fisherman, advises the government to first sensitise all fishermen before rolling out the new fees.
“It would be wise for government to postpone the planned exercise and first sensitise fishermen about the importance of paying for the licence,” he says.
Kisoro District Fisheries Officer Dennis Bilungi says although he has received communication about the licensing of fisheries activities in the country, he plans to visit the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal industry and Fisheries for technical guidance because two out of the four lakes in his district are under a fishing holiday that is expected to end in June 2023 while fishermen in the other lakes are doing business on small scale.
“In Kisoro District, we have four lakes of Mulehe, Chahafi, Kayumbu and Mutanda. Kayumbu and Chahafi are undergoing a two-year fishing holiday that was announced last year in June because we restocked them,” he says.
“I am yet to get technical advice from the ministry on how I will go about the licensing process. We have a total of about 100 fishermen in all the four lakes,” Mr Bilungi adds.
According to Mr Jackson Baguma, the Kalangala District fisheries officer, issuance of licences to fish dealers has already commenced in the district and defaulters will pay a surcharge of 50 percent of the normal rates.
“At least 2,000 of the targeted 8000 fishermen have paid licences for their fishing boats, but many fish mongers are still reluctant to pay the annual one because many think it is covered in operational permits, which is not true,” Mr Baguma says.
Ms Grace Nakakande, a dealer in smoked fish at Mwena Landing Site, complains that the ministry set licence fees without first carrying out assessment of their businesses.
“We earn little from this business, but we pay a lot of taxes, including Shs50,000, which goes to Uganda Revenue Authority; what else do they want from us?” she wonders.
Mr Joseph Lukwago, the vice chairperson of Association of Fishers and Lake Users of Uganda (Afalu) Eastern, says fishermen are already aware of the fishing regulations, but are only disappointed by the government for failure to implement and enforce them.
The State minister for Fisheries, Ms Hellen Adoa, says the licensing and registration exercise is carried out once after two years and the fishermen were given ample time to prepare.
“The national registration of vessels and licensing of fishermen campaign has been going on for a while. I wonder why some fishermen are complaining now; the rates are affordable and have not charged for some years,” she says.
She says the planned exercise is an international fisheries management tool that is key in regulating the sector.
“Licensing is a regulatory process that helps to optimise the exploitation and utilisation of the fisheries resources. We are also optimistic that it will help us weed out some wrong people who have infiltrated this fishing business,” the minister says.
In Kaberamaido and Serere districts where lake Kyoga has much of its waters and landing sites, the fishermen attested to Daily Monitor that they have not yet received any communication or engagement from beach management committees on the planned exercise.
Mr Collins Omoen Opio, the chairperson of fishermen in Serere District, says majority of fishermen in the area are fully registered and pay for operational permits, not licences.
“We are waiting for a team from the ministry, may be they will educate us more about the license,” he says.
Mr Robert Etwomu, a fisherman on Lake Kyoga and chairperson of the fishermen association at Murem Landing Site in Okile Sub-county, Kaberamaido District, says government should first restock the lakes to improve fish stocks before enforcing the licence fees.
Mr Joseph Kayiba, a fisherman at Kasenyi Landing Site on Lake Kijjanebarola, says: “The ministry officials sit in their air-conditioned offices and take long to come to the ground yet it is us [fishermen] who pay for their salaries. Some of the regulations they are talking about are applied selectively ,which is not good.”
At Masese Landing Site in Jinja City, the fishermen welcomed the registration and licensing programme, saying it would help weed out unscrupulous men who engage in illegal fishing.
To get licensed, a fisherman will be required to provide a Tax Identification Number (TIN), which will be obtained from any nearest Uganda Revenue Authority office (URA) office or National Identification Cards for nationals and passports for non-Ugandans.
licence fees for various categories
• Fee per vessel on lakes, Victoria, Albert, Kyoga, Edward, George & Wamala - Shs100,000
• Fee per vessel on Lake Nakivale & other minor lakes - Shs50,000
• Fee per vessel on swamps, rivers & dams -Shs25,000
• Licence for vessels used or owned by non-Ugandans - Shs2m
• Trucks carrying fish by tonnage less than 5 tonnes - Shs250,000
• Trucks carrying fish by tonnage 5 to 10 tonnes - Shs750,000
• Containerised vessels by tonnage less than 5 tonnes - Shs250,000
• Containerised vessels by tonnage 5 to 10 tonnes - Shs500,000
• Containerised vessel by tonnage over 10 tonnes - Shs 750,000
• Transporters of by products & processed fish - Shs500,000
• Artisanal processors /Fish mongers - Shs50,000
• Large scale artisanal processing (fish maws) - Shs500,000
• Fish processing control fee for processing factories –Shs3m
• Fish net manufacturing factories /importers - Shs1m
• Boat builders/ local gear makers - Shs50,000
• Fish control permit for citizens - Shs25,000
• Special licence fishing control for non-citizens - Shs100,000
• Recreational fish permit Shs150,000
• Special license Shs25,000 Application Shs10,000
• Fish sanitary certificate (per consignment ) Shs20,000
Compiled by Al-Mahdi Ssenkabirwa , Robert Muhereza ,Simon Emwamu ,Leonard Mbishinzimana ,Abubaker Kirunda ,Denis Edema Ambrose Musasizi & Andrew Mugati
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