FISH POISONING - EAST AFRICA (LAKE VICTORIA) ******************************************** Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1998 Source: East African Newspaper, Joseph Ngome, edited At an environmental seminar held in the Kenyan lakeside town of Kisumu last week it was reported that chemical fishing has been detected in some landing bays around Lake Victoria, which is shared by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The practice, which poses a major hazard to consumers and the lake environment, involves spraying chemicals into the lake to intoxicate the fish so that they are easier to catch. The chairman of the Uganda Fisheries and Fish Conservation Association, Mr Kamuturaki Seremos, said Ugandan law enforcement officers are making greater use of the Environmental Pollution Act, which gives the courts powers to punish people who use chemicals to harvest fish. The Act was recently revised to impose stiffer penalties on those caught committing the offence. More than 30 people have in recent months been sentenced to jail terms of seven years or fined Ush5 million for using chemicals to poison fish. Mr. Seremos said his Association had formed task forces from the national level to the beach level to monitor the use of chemicals in the lake. "A lot still needs to be done, however, especially with the recent EU ban on fish from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique, due to poor handling of fish," said Mr Seremos. He said although many artisanal fishermen turn to the use of chemicals because they cannot afford fishing tackle, there was need for campaigns to educate them on the long term costs of lake pollution. Last month, Uganda's Minister of State for Agriculture and Fisheries, Mr. Kazimbira Muyingo, called for a clamp-down on chemical fishing in all three East African countries, saying it poses a serious health hazard to lakeside populations and the lake's ecology. The poisoning mainly affects the tilapia species which lives in the shallow water near the shores. Only a small percentage of the deep water Nile Perch is affected. In Kenya, several fishermen have been arrested by fisheries scouts under suspicion of using chemicals to harvest fish but their cases are still pending in various law courts. The assistant director of fisheries for Western Kenya, Mr. Mathias Wafula, told The East African that despite efforts to check chemical fishing on the Kenyan side of the lake, the practice was still rampant. He said the use of a chemical known locally as "Ambush" was first reported in Busia in March this year, in Siaya district in April, and has now spread to Kisumu district. Investigations had established that "Ambush" had originated from Uganda and Wafula called for coordination among the three users of the lake to stop the practice. Tanzanian environmentalists attending the Kisumu seminar said isolated cases of chemical fishing on their side of the lake had been reported. The Kisumu seminar was co-sponsored by Earth Greenery Activities Japan (EGAJ) and the Kisumu-based non-governmental organisation OSIENALA (Friends of the Lake) and brought together environmentalists and medial practitioners from Japan and the East Africa region. -- Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1998 17:25:30 GMT Ambush is permethrin which is a synthetic pyrethroid. It is widely used as a contact insecticide to control a wide range of agricultural pests as well as medically important arthropods such as mosquitoes and ticks. It is commonly used in many military organizations worldwide to impregnate uniforms to prevent vector-borne disease transmission due to its repellent properties. Another brand name is Prelude and they are distributed by Zeneca Corporation. Both of these formulations are registered for agricultural use. Those used for medically important arthropods bear different brand names. Pyrethroids in general have low mammalian toxicities but are very toxic to aquatic life especially fish. Ambush C is cypermethrin which is the same compound which bears a cyanide group to promote greater molecular stability therefore increasing residual activity. Complete molecular structure information and other properties of these chemicals can be found in the Global Insecticide Directory First Edition by W. L. Hopkins. Experience with insecticide toxicology indicates that applied vector control in the field and use of these compounds is REAL bad news for those ecosystems.
