Stevens Aguto Odongoh

Modern Boats in African Great-lakes:: Local Ecological Knowledge and the Management of Fisheries Resources in Lake Victoria, Uganda Stevens Aguto Odongoh

This is a story of fish and fishing in Lake Victoria, one of Africa?s Great lakes. In the early 1990s, Uganda started industrial fish processing in response to the lucrative markets overseas. This has led to a situation whereby larger-scale industrial fisheries have been systematically favored in the belief that the benefits derived from the newer fisheries would flow through the economy to the original participants. The customary system, rules and regulations are being replaced through the promotion of conventional science, foreign technology and centralization of power. The question of whether the economic importance of fisheries for local populations/households (that originally survived on the lake?s resources) has been tackled is what the study follows. It will further focus on how local fishers employ LEK to sustain their meager economy amidst the interference of state agencies and external actors. It explores how local fishers are coping with the new natural resource management policies and whether Lake Victoria is heading for an environmental catastrophe.