Lake Naivasha to be 'closed' for clean-up

Fishermen during a past clean-up of Lake Naivasha. [File, Standard]

Fishing on Lake Naivasha will be suspended for three days next week to pave way for a major clean-up.

The exercise is meant to clear hundreds of abandoned nets which have been blamed for mass fish deaths.

This comes in the wake of an increase in cases of hippo attacks targeting illegal fishermen popularly known as ‘foot-fishermen’ around the water body.

According to Mathew Ngila, the director of fisheries in Nakuru County, the number of abandoned nets in the lake was worrying. 

“From Tuesday next week we shall conduct a clean-up exercise and this will involve all the registered fishermen,” he said.

After the clean-up. the county would restock the lake with 50,000 fingerlings.

“The county has set aside Sh0.5m for the restocking since the lake offers job opportunities,” he said.