BIOSTAT REPORT NO. 5

Mission Report to Kasenyi Fish Landing
(20/1/89)

by

R. Tumwebaze

1. INTRODUCTION :

On the 20th of January 1989, a field trip was made to Kasenyi fish landing. Those who went to the landing were :

1. Mr. Wadanya - Senior Biologist/Statistician.
2. Mr. Odongkara - Senior Economist.
3. Mr. Nyeko - Biologist/Statistician.
4. Mrs. Tumwebaze - Biologist/ Statistician.

5. Miss Ikwaput - Biologist / Statistican.

The mission was accompanied by Mr. Adima, Fisheries Assistant from the Regional Office of Victoria Entebbe.

At the landing, the mission was received by Mr. Sembalirwa, Fisheries Development Officer; Mr. Seviri, Fisheries Marketing Assistant and Mr. Iga, Assistant Fisheries Development Officer.

Kasenyi is a permanent fish landing but not gazetted, it is on a private land so the buildings there are temporary. It is situated at about 7 miles from the Fisheries Department in Entebbe.

There are 44 canoes of which 24 are fishing canoes and 20 are transport canoes. Of the 24 fishing canoes, 20 are manual and 4 are powered. The number of active fishing canoes is variable (lack of nets, etc). Of the 20 transport canoes an average of 12 canoes come daily to the landing while the remaining 8 are seasonal, depending upon the magnitude of the catches.
At the moment of the visit, about 20 canoes were laying on the beach.
The number of fishermen ranges from 100–150. The fishing canoes usually leave between 2.00 to 6.00 p.m and return between 7.00 a.m to 3 p.m.

KASENYI LANDING

2. OBSERVATIONS AT THE LANDING :

2.1. Data collection.

Fresh fish arrivals are sampled during three days of the week : Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. On these days the following boats are sampled : the first, the fourth, the eighth, etc. (every fourth boat to arrive). For each sampled canoe, fish is counted and weighed according to species. The number of crew (usually three) plus the registration number or the owner is recorded. Each canoe has an average of 10 – 40 gillnets with a mesh size of 4 – 10 inches and catches about 20 – 40 kgs per day. Transporters of fresh fish bring about 400 – 900 kgs/canoe. Some transporters bring both smoked and fresh fish.

For smoked fish, the fisheries staff enquire from all transport canoes arriving : the weight of the landed fish is not weighed but estimated. Daily, about 5 transport canoes bring on the average one tonne of smoked fish per canoe.

The data collection forms are sent to the Regional Office at the end of each month. On these forms, we find the month, the sampled days and for each sampled day, the sampled canoes. For every sampled canoe, the number and weight of fish according to species is given. The Regional Office calculates the total catch for the month and forwards a monthly report to the Fisheries Department in Entebbe.

2.2. Fish marketing.

Fish from the landing is taken to Kampala markets : Katwe, Kibuye (mainly smoked fish), Bwaise, Kaleirwe. Some fish, however, is taken to Entebbe, Mityana, Kasese (biggest quantity of smoked fish). There are about 200 fishmongers of all categories but the large scale fishmongers are about 20.
For transport, about 20 pickups and 10 bicycles collect fish daily.