BIOSTAT REPORT NO. 6

Report on the Tour of Masaka Region-Lake Victoria

by

R. Tumwebaze

14 May 1989

REHABILITATION OF FISHERIES STATISTICS AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS

PROJECT UGA /87/007

1. INTRODUCTION.

The journey to Masaka region started on 28/3/89 and ended on 31/3/89. In this region, we (Mr. J. Wadanya, Senior Biologist/Statistician of the project and myself) were accompanied by Mr. Christopher Kyeyune, Fisheries Assistant from Bukakata landing, and the Regional Fisheries Officer Mr. L.S. Mugerwa who joined us on the last day. We visited one market and several landings as follows :

2. OBSERVATIONS AT PLACES VISITED.

2.1. Nyendo Market.

Nyendo Market is under Masaka Municipal Council. There are 100 stalls for fish sales but only 60 are operational. Nyendo handles fish mainly from Bukakata landing and it receives an average of 7 vehicles daily. In the course of a normal week fish deliveries amount to about 10 tons of Nile perch, 3 tons of tilapia and 0.8 tons of other species, mainly Clarias and Protopterus. About 2 tons of smoked fish are brought to the market on Thursdays and Saturdays. There are 20 fishmongers dealing in fresh fish and 7 dealing in processed fish. Both fresh and processed fish products are taken from Nyendo to Karungu County, Ssembabule Market, Kyotera, Kyazanga and Lyantonde.

Two Fisheries Assistants (FAs) are stationed at Nyendo Market. They sample 4 days in a week, that is on Mondays, Wednesdays Thursdays and Saturdays. The first vehicle to come is always sampled and others are randomly selected as they come. Main species brought to this market are Nile perch and tilapia. From the vehicle, Nile perch is put on wheelbarrows. A few are picked from the wheelbarrow and weighed to find the average weight per fish. The number of fish on the wheelbarrow is then counted and the total multiplied by the average weight to obtain the total weight of the wheelbarrow load. The weight of fish in one vehicle is then derived from the weight per wheelbarrow times the number of wheelbarrows off-loaded. At the end of the day, the FAs get the total weight by multiplying with the number of vehicles worked that day.

Tilapia is always brought in baskets and the average weight of a basket is about 150 kg. So the total weight is simply the product of the number of baskets and the average weight. For the total number, they count fish in one basket and multiply it with the number of baskets. At the end of the month, a general report is made and sent to the regional office. Days when no recording is done are not accounted for. Note was taken of the defective 50 kg scale. The Assistants also supervise other markets close to Masaka. Summary of sample information is done on Sundays for all the four sampled days. The RFO only recieves the weekly raw market sample information and not completed monthly estimates.

2.2. Bukakata Landing.

This landing is manned by one AFDO and one FA. There are 27 fishing boats of which 12 use out-board motors. There are also four transport boats, operating between Bukakata, Ssese Islands and Bugoma. Usually a fishing boat uses 30–50 nets of meshes 7, 8 and 10 inch for Nile perch and 2–10 nets of meshes 4.5 and 6 inch for tilapia. They land between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. Common species and their daily catch are : Nile perch (3 tons), tilapia (0.2tons), Protopterus (4 or 5 fish) and sometimes Bagrus.

The fisheries staff sample fresh fish 3–4 days per week. Although boats are supposed to be selected randomly, there seems to be a bias towards motorised canoes. For each sampled boat the fish are counted and recorded as they are sold. Mean weight is determined by figuring the mean of ten randomly selected fish. Total weight is this mean times total number of fish. Value is determined by dividing the total cost by the number of fish to get the average cost. To get the cost per kg, the average cost is divided by the average weight. The AFDO supervises 7 other landings. The staff have a scale of 100-kg but no other field inputs like calculators, stationery etc.

Smoked Nile perch are enumereted by weighing 20 pieces from a chosen basket. The average weight per piece is derived and multiplied with the total number of pieces in the basket to get the total weight. Nile perch is usually cut into two pieces when smoking so the number of fish is known by dividing the number of pieces by two.

Tilapia is usually packed in bundles and each bundle has an average of 250–400 pieces according to size, and weighs about 80 kg. Thus the total weight is equal to 80 kg times the number of bundles.

Smoked fish mainly comes on Saturdays from Ssese Islands. In a week Bukakata receives about 5 tons, of which 3.5 are of Nile perch and 1.58 tons are of tilapia.

The number of fishermen is 27. Fishmongers dealing in fresh fish are 22 and for smoked fish they are 18. Ten vehicles take fish to Nyendo market while 2–3 vehicles supply fish around Masaka town. During times of good catches, some vehicles take fish to Gomba in Mpigi District.

2.3. Lambu Landing.

For this landing there is one FA posted, but he was not around at the time we visited. General information about the landing and its operations was obtained from a fisherman who has been working out of Lambu for two years. It was reported that Lambu has 50 boats of which only 20 are operational. The other 30 are down due to scarcity of fish while some need repair. Eight boats use out-board motors. There are no transport boats. Boats which use engines use on the average 70–80 nets of meshes 7, 8 and 10 inch while the hand propelled ones use about 50 nets of meshes 5 and 6 inch. They land between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Average catch per boat per day for Nile perch is 50 kg and for tilapia 5–8 kg. There are 40 fishmongers. Only one vehicle takes fish to Nyendo market. The remaining fish is taken on bicycles to nearby villages mainly Kigo market. A number of weirs are operated close to the landing but their harvest is not assesed.

Cost of fresh fish : - Nileperch 130/= per kg.
- Tilapia 150/= per kg.

Generally there is not much surplus fish available for smoking. Only three smoking pits are found, worked by eight people who process about a bundle per week, or the equivalent of about 100 pieces of Nile perch. Cost of smoked fish ranges between 150/= to 250/= per kg. Marketing is done through Lambu Cooperative Society which has 24 members who deal in both general trading and fishing. Smoked fish is taken to Kyabagenya, Sembabule, Kabonera and Kariiro markets.

2.4. Bulingo Landing.

This is a landing with one FA and one AFDO, who also oversee the two minor landings of Kamalibo and Kamuwunga. Bulingo has 80 boats of which 65 are actively fishing. Of those which are not fishing, some 8 lost their nets while others are not seaworthy. Average nets per boat are 5 of meshes 5–8 inch. There are no boats which use out-board motors. They mainly fish tilapia. Nile perch is rare while Clarias and Protopterus are mainly caught in the rainy season. Fishing is mainly along the shoreline. Average catch per boat is 24 kg / day. Three long lines operate at the minor landings for Protopterus and Clarias. Saturdays and Sundays are resting days. Landing time ranges from 7.30 a.m. to 11 a.m.

There is no weighing scale at Bulingo, so all weights are estimated. Sampling days are Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The Fisheries Staff sample the first five boats to come, then leave the next three, and again sample the 5 boats that follow. They count all the fish in a boat, estimate the average weight, and then get the total weight by multiplying these figures together. The fishermen group the fish according to species and sizes, so the work of the staff becomes easier. When sampling they record the serial number of the boat, type of gear and size, number and weight per species in the catch.

Cost of fresh fish : - tilapia 50/= per kg.
- Nile perch 65/= per kg.

There are 125 fishmongers and most of them use bicycles. A vehicle comes only when fish is in plenty. Fish is taken to Kyotera, Nyendo market, Karungu county and nearby villages. This landing does not handle processed fish. Marketing is done through the Kaaso Fishing Co. Society a group with 35 members which is solely concerned with the fishing business.

2.5. Ddimu Landing.

This landing is manned by one AFDO and two FAs. There are three minor landings located nearby, namely : Karokoso (5–6 boats), Sozi (2–5 boats) and Zinga Island (5 boats). Ddimu has got 40 boats of which 30 are actively fishing and are all equipped with out-board motors. The remaining 10 boats are seasonal. Average nets per boat are 60, of meshes 7 and 8 inch. The hand propelled boats have meshes of 5 and 6 inch. There are no transport boats. Landing time is between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. Average catch per boat is 80 kg., and total production per day is 3.2 tons. Species caught are Nile perch (95%), and tilapia, Clarias, and Bagrus (5%). Most of the fish is bought fresh. There is little surplus for smoking.

Fishing is done all days of the month except on festive days. Fisheries staff sample once a week but no advance planning is made on how to take a sample. They do not have a weighing scale. Boats sampled are chosen spontaneously at the whim of the staff. For every boat chosen, fish is not sold until a Fisheries staff member is present. A count of fish is made as selling progresses. To this total is added the 8 fish taken by the labourers and 2 fish taken by the owner of the boat. For the weight, staff have fixed the average weight of fish obtained from nets of 7 and 8 inch to be 5kg. So they get the total weight by multiplying this average by the total number of fish. There are no records on autoconsumption yet the location is remote and alot of fish is eaten by the fisherfolk themselves. There are some 200 fishmongers. Two vehicles come to collect fish daily. Smoked fish is taken to Mbarara and Kabale whenever a vehicle is available.

2.6. Malembo Landing.

Malembo landing is supervised by an AFDO resident in Ddimu. It has 20 boats and 20 fishermen, although only 15 boats are actively fishing. The average number of nets per boat are 60, of meshes 7 and 8 inch. Fifteen boats have out-board motors. Main species are Nile perch and Rastrineobola argentea from Tanzanian waters. Average daily catch of Nile perch per boat is 80 kg. Time of landing is 8 a.m–11 a.m. There are 3 transport boats. The monthly record of Rastrineobola argentea reaches 80 tons and is taken by about 10 lorries from the landing to Kampala, Arua, Kisoro and Jinja (biggest market). There are 100 fishmongers, all dealing in fresh fish and all equipped with bicycles.

Collection of data at Malembo landing is the same as at Ddimu.

2.7 The Regional Office.

This office receives reports from various landings in Masaka region and is responsible for final landing figure compilation and quality assessment of the information received. The information given in the final report includes :

1. The number of canoes per landing.
2. Species by landing in terms of number, weight and value.
3. Average weight and average cost of different species per kg.

4. Total weight and total value of fish per landing.

No records are kept for autoconsumption or on community welfare matters for any of the landings.

3. EVALUATION.

There is no uniform system for the collection of data at the different landings visited. The sampling days vary. At some sites, sampling is done only once a week; at others, it is carried out three to four times a week. Staff at the various landings have different ways of choosing which boats to sample. In most cases they do not follow any actual system of selection. Most landings lack weighing scales, so average weight is just fixed according to mesh size of the nets used or is otherwise estimated. The statistical variables recorded are not uniform. In Ddimu they don't have records on processed fish yet smoking takes place on the landing. No data are given on small landings and alot of information is lost due to infrequent recording at the major landings. Data summaries at the Regional Fisheries Office are incomplete, leaving much for further compilation and analysis. The RFO lacks statistics-trained staff, and basic equipment like calculators and stationery are missing. Field supervision remains minimal due to lack of transport.