Publication Date:
2021-05-19
Description:
There are an estimated 8-10,000 artisanal fishers on the Kenya coast, about 2-3,000 in Kilifi and Malindi Districts. These artisanal fishers have received relatively little attention thus far but it is known that they face dwindling resources and heavy competition from tourism and human settlement. The main objective of this research was to increase the knowledge of social and economic conditions of fisher-folk. The focus was on income diversification of fishermen, the pressure on marine resources and the relation between the two. It was hypothesised that households with additional resources, notably non-maritime employment, strengthen their livelihood strategies and improve their household security. Furthermore, fishermen who succeed in diversifying their incomes will exact less pressure on marine resources and will have a more positive attitude towards conservation measures. The research tackled the above subjects by means of interrelated surveys and studies. The project consisted of 10 research activities including four surveys on fishers, fish catches, traders and fisher households, respectively. The surveys were augmented by detailed studies on fish biology, fish traders, income diversification and resource conservation. Following the introduction (Ch.l) and literature review (Ch.2), the report begins with a survey among fishers at five coast tracts and describes their genera! characteristics (Ch.3). Next, the focus shifts to catches at four landing sites; amounts and composition (Ch.4). The following chapter focuses on the households of fishers and crew members compared with non-fisher households, assessing household incomes and their composition (Ch.5). The next chapter is concerned with environmental aspects of fishing and examines the relation between environmental awareness and income diversification of the fishers (Ch.6). Comprehensive summaries of the detailed studies are presented in the series of Appendices. Lack of off-shore going vessels dictated that most of the fishing efforts were concentrated on- and inside the reef. Forty percent of the fishers reported that they had economic activities in addition to fishing. Closer examination showed that it was mostly the Mijikenda fishers who were farming and Bajuni/Swahili fishers much less so. There were large differences among the five coast tracts studied as well as large individual differences among fishers. More than 100 fish species were identified during the study period. Species richness was highest in the two landing sites situated in Marine Park Areas (MPA's), Malindi and Mida.
Description:
Published
Keywords:
Fishery resources
;
Fishery surveys
;
Resource conservation
;
Artisanal fishing
;
Fishermen statistics
;
Fishery economics
Repository Name:
AquaDocs
Type:
Report
,
Not Known
Format:
154pp. & Appendices
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