19th – 21st August, 1991
By
J. WADANYA & E. COENEN
Abstract This report elaborates the findings of the recent project team visits in the Jinja and Tororo Fisheries Regions. In these areas, office renovation works as well as construction of a number of uniports/weighing sheds has been going on. The team, therefore, carried out this mission in order to inspect and evaluate the progress so far made in the completion of these tasks and to be able to compile proper returns for the project's accounts and reports files from each regional station accordingly. A brief mention is made about the attendance at the Agricultural Development Program Seminar on Fishery Statistics collection and Information flow on Lake Kyoga, which was going on in Tororo during the time of the visits. |
September, 1991
INTRODUCTION:
The team set off from Entebbe in the afternoon of Monday 19th
August on a trip lasting up to Wednesday 21st 1991 (see
itinerary).
This operation and evaluation mission was the second of that
nature to be conducted in the project zones at the end of the
project. The first mission was conducted in Masaka and
Kichwamba Fisheries regions (Wadanya & Coenen, 1991). The major
aim of this trip was to appraise the work of renovation and
construction of office and habitation structures put up in
different places of the Lake Victoria zone and to discuss
operational matters with the RFOs.
INPUTS TO PROJECT REGIONS:
Whenever such trips have been organised, the team has always taken this advantage to ferry some remaining inputs, particularly the platform weighing scales, to the respective regions. These inputs were the last to arrive in the project and are being distributed accordingly.
ATTENDANCE AT THE AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT (ADP) PROGRAM SEMINAR:
On Tuesday morning, the 20th, the team attended the ADP Fishery
Component Seminar at Tororo District Farm Institute (DFI). The
seminar brought together various heads of fisheries stations
managing the Lake Kyoga complex.
The theme of the seminar was “Statistics and Information Flow on
Lake Kyoga”, and was organised by the biologists working on ADP,
based in Jinja. The authors attended this meeting based on the
understanding that both projects, ADP and FISHIN, share a common
vision of an integrated and harmonised Statistics and Information
Systems for the Ugandan fisheries sector.
The seminar aimed at sensitising the participants on the progress of work that had been going on around Lake Kyoga since 1987. Major emphasis was laid on fish-stocks studies, statistical data collection and in general how all the collected data were, are and will be processed into useful information before being disseminated.
This was the first time to invite heads of stations to a seminar
since the ADP project began. All along, project activities had
been limited to the ADP researchers and only occasionally the
services of fisheries assistants had been used whenever and
wherever they found them along the fish landings(Wadanya, 1990).
From now on, heads of stations are going to act as supervisors of
field staff during project activities, particularly in the area
of data collection.
Major topics covered in the seminar can be grouped as follows:
Frame survey; Catch Assessment Survey; Fishery Survey component
activities; Biological studies and future work on the lake Kyoga
system, particularly in the area of monitoring and follow-up.
On our part, Mr. Coenen, Chief Technical Advisor, FISHIN, gave an
elaboration on the UGA/87/007 project statistical work. Among
others, he elaborated the methodology and procedures that have
been put in place so far; progress of implementation; the work so
far done and the analysis of results using the computer program,
Ugastat, which has been developed for this purpose. Ugastat is
now operational but it still needs a lot of program
changes/additions for refining the quality of the outputs.
VISIT TO TORORO RFO OFFICE:
At about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, on the same day, the team
called at the Regional Fisheries Office, Tororo. The RFO
conducted the team around the two newly renovated offices. The
doors and windows of the offices have been properly reinforced
with burglar-proof metal. They have also been painted and extra
locks were purchased to enhance security.
The RFO reported that, in this region, all the renovation and
construction work was now complete. Three uniports, one in Busia
(with a weighing shed) and the other two in the Sigulu Islands
were also complete.
Effort was made to visit Busia Fisheries Station immediately following this meeting with the RFO. The aim was to inspect the uniport and weighing shed erected in Busia market as well as deliver the platform weighing scale to the AFDO in-charge. The uniport is supposed to house the delivered scale and to be used as an office.
Upon arrival in Busia, the AFDO in-charge accompanied us to the site of the uniport in the market where we installed the scale. A quick demonstration of how the scale is operated was done before departure for Tororo. Later that evening, the team left Tororo together with the District Fisheries Officer, Iganga and the RFO Jinja. They arrived in Jinja at about 7.30 p.m. where the night was spent.
VISIT TO JINJA RFO OFFICE:
The team visited Jinja office on Wednesday, 21st, at 9 o'clock
and met the RFO. Discussions centred on the renovation and
construction works going on in his region. The team inspected
the office before returning to Entebbe that very morning.
The RFO reported that office renovation had generally been
completed. The work generally involved partitioning of what was
once a single large room into three offices: one for the RFO;
another for the District Fisheries Officer; and the last one for
general clerical duties. Wooden cupboards have been fixed at
some elevation on the wall for keeping the office record files.
The doors and windows were burglar proofed; roof leakages sealed; walls plastered and curtain boxes put in place. Electrical installation and repairs were finalised and the floor painted in red oxide.
Three(3) uniports had been erected in the region: i.e. at Namoni,
Idokwe and Lwanika landings. For the latter also a weighing
shed was constructed and therefore received a platform weighing
scale.
The RFO reported some minor expenses still outstanding: 2
padlocks and 2 chains for the uniports at Namoni and Idokwe
landing sites. In addition, the window frame for the Idokwe
uniport and three extra window glasses still have to be
purchased.
DISCUSSION:
The gains made by the project in the two regions of Jinja and
Tororo have effectively been realised. The new CAS methodology
was successfully implemented and, according to on site checks and
reports by the RFOs, all construction and repair works in the
field and offices have been completed. According to them, the
arrival of platform weighing scales taken their during our visits
was timely as this will enable them to embark on collection of
accurate market statistics.
Further, our attendance at the ADP seminar also bore fruit as we
came to understand the survey activities on Lake Kyoga and had
the occasion to meet and discuss with the scientists involved in
this exercise. The exchange of views in the related area of
fisheries statistics will go a long way in assisting to adopt a
suitable, standardised method for data collection on a
nation-wide basis.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Judging from the papers presented at the ADP seminar on the catch
assessment plan for Lake Kyoga (Hartsuyker, 1991), and from our
own views from FISHIN project at the headquarters, everybody
agreed that a standard sampling system would be the best for all
Uganda lakes.
It is, however, observed that the catch assessment conditions on
Lake Kyoga differ greatly from those of say Lake Victoria. The
catch assessment method proposed by FISHIN project is, however,
quite a flexible one and allows for even difficult fisheries like
those of lake Kyoga to be covered. There is also the advantage
that right from its inception, the FISHIN Project had the
objective of developing the most suitable CAS method that could
be adopted for the whole country. FISHIN has also developed a
computer program (operational, but still to be refined) to
analyse both frame and catch data.
It is therefore proposed that the Fisheries Department takes an
immediate decision to make ADP implement a CAS system on Lake
Kyoga which is compatible with the Ugastat data entry
requirements, since they appear to be going to implement another
CAS system.
This would facilitate the statistical compilation work of the
data processing team in headquarters to handle data for all water
systems at the same time and in a standard way, rather than have
to recompile ADP CAS results, collected and processed in a
different manner.
PERSONS MET DURING THE TRIP:
1. | P. Olokojo | - District Fisheries Officer Iganga |
2. | J. Bikala | - AFDO Iganga |
3. | P. Nkwanga | - RFO Tororo |
4. | H. Makanga | - AFDO Busia |
5. | P. Etot | - RFO Jinja |
6. | Seminar Participants. Tororo |
CITED REFERENCES:
Wadanya, J. 1990 - Observations on the Catch Assessment Activities being undertaken by the ADP team on Lakes Kyoga and Kwania. BIOSTAT Report No. 16, FISHIN Notes and Records. Fisheries Statistics and Information Systems, FAO/UNDP Project UGA/87/007, October 1990.
Wadanya, J., E. Coenen, 1991. Report on the Assessment of Frame Survey Returns and on the Conduct of the Catch Assessment Course for Field Staff on Lakes Edward/George & Kazinga Channel, held at Katungulu on 26th/6/1991. BIOSTAT Report No. 24, FISHIN Notes and Records. Fisheries Statistics and Information Systems, FAO/UNDP Project UGA/87/007, June 1991.
Hartsuyker, L., 1991 - A Catch Assessment Plan for Lake Kyoga ADP/FS 1990/1991. Document for discussion with Regional and District Fisheries Officers. Paper presented at the Program Seminar on Fishery Statistics Collection and Information Flow on Lake Kyoga, 20th August 1991.