Fishermen at Kijangi Landing Site on Lake Albert in Hoima district are crying out over decreased fish stocks in the lake.

According to the fishermen, one of the factors for this decline in fish numbers is the continued disregard of proper management practices in the disposal of plastic waste which ends up in the Lake. These plastics cover the water and choke fish of oxygen ad they end up dying.

In many parts of the shores of Lake Albert, you cannot miss the collection of plastic waste such as water bottles, disused plastic footwear, jerrycans, basins, and polythene bags, among others. The fishermen at Kijangi Landing Site in Hoima district say that the continued careless disposal of such plastics has affected fish stocks on Lake Albert.

The Kijangi Village LC1 Chairperson, Fred Bigirwa, says that the plastics floating on the lake have greatly affected aquatic life and they have noticed a decline in fish stocks compared to the past before the problem got worse.

Bigirwa says the leaders have tried to remove the plastics by periodically mobilizing the people to burn them but it’s becoming overwhelming because traders bring bottled drinks daily from Hoima City. The consumers poorly dispose of the bottles and they somehow end up in Lake Albert.

FRED BIGIRWA- Chairperson LC1, Kijangi Village (We normally do a general cleaning once a week but it is not enough, if we can get a pit where people can collect and dump these plastic wastes, it would be easy for us to manage.

Martin Musoke, a fisherman at Kijangi Landing Site in Tonya Parish says many fishermen here use plastic materials to float their fishing nets since they cannot afford to buy the standard required floaters.

According to Musoke, area leaders and law enforcers including the police have not done enough to stop the increasing plastic waste disposal at Lake Albert.

54-year-old Jena Ndahura, who has been fishing on Lake Albert for many decades, says fishing is no longer profitable on this landing site.

JENA NDAHURA – Fisherman, Kijangi Landing Site (we used to get more fish at the start of the month up to when the moon comes out but nowadays things are not going on as they used to be.

The area village Local Council Chairman Bigirwa appealed to plastics manufacturers to design alternative materials which can decompose.

FRED BIGIRWA- Chairperson LC1, Kijangi Village (we would request the government and manufacturers to start making things that can compose after use.

The Woman Councilor for Tonya Parish called for intensified community sensitization on the dangers of poor plastic disposal.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), over 300 million tonnes of plastic waste is produced globally every year and a substantial part of these end up in the seas and other water bodies such as lakes and rivers.

Ambrose