Concerns over the curse of hyacinth weed

By ANTONY GITONGA

Lake Naivasha is choking under the dreaded hyacinth weed, which has covered a third of it making navigation difficult.

And as the country celebrates the World Fisheries Day Monday, fishing stakeholders have expressed concerns the weed has blocked two of the landing beaches in the lake.

Lake Naivasha Boat Operators chairman David Kilo said Tarambeta and part of Kamere landing bays had been completely blocked by the weed, making fishing and tour of the lake impossible. He added that the weed was spreading at a high rate.

"Last month, we had to rescue three fishermen who had been trapped in the lake for more than 20 hours. The weed is turning out to be a menace," Mr Kilo said.

He called for concerted efforts to deal with the weed before it caused more damage to the fisheries and tourism sectors.

The Naivasha District Fisheries Officer Mathew Ngila confirmed the weed was turning out to be a nuisance and affecting fishing.

He said though fish catch in the lake was on the increase, the weed was blocking fishermen from accessing part of the lake.

Increased catch

"The water hyacinth is turning out to be one of the biggest challenges facing the lake users and we hope Kenya Agricultural Research Institute will introduce the beetle to deal with the weed," he said.

On fish production, Ngila said catches were up, adding that in 2010 fishermen recorded 200 metric tonnes.

"Common carp accounted for 95 per cent of the catch and this is an increase compared to other years."

The officer added that in September this year they recorded 55 metric tonnes compared to 29 metric tonnes last September.

Ngila defended the recent introduction of Tilapia Zilli in the lake, saying the species had not matured yet.

"We introduced more than 500,000 fingerlings in the lake and many more are needed for any impact to be felt."