The Effectiveness of Surveillance Strategy on the Management of Fisheries Resources in Lake Victoria, Mbita Sub-County
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53819/81018102t4409Abstract
Fisheries are vital to global food security, supplying approximately 16 percent of animal protein worldwide and employing over 35 million people in fishing roles. In Kenya, Lake Victoria fish production declined from 98,150 metric tonnes in 2018 to 70,313 metric tonnes in 2023, a 28 percent fall attributable to illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Despite the adoption of Monitoring, Control, and Surveillance (MCS) strategies, their implementation adequacy in Mbita Sub-County, Homa Bay County, remains poorly understood. This study determined the effectiveness of surveillance strategies on the management of fisheries resources in Mbita Sub-County. A convergent parallel mixed-methods design was employed. The target population comprised 17,700 fishers and 80 fisheries officials in Homa Bay County; the accessible population was 6,500 fishers and 11 officials in Mbita Sub-County. Using Israel's (1992) formula, 377 fishers were randomly sampled at a 95 percent confidence level, while all 11 officials were purposively selected for key informant interviews. Data were collected using researcher-administered structured questionnaires for fishers and semi-structured interview schedules for officials. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and simple linear regression in SPSS Version 28, while qualitative data were analysed thematically using Braun and Clarke's (2022) framework. Simple linear regression analysis was used to test each of the three null hypotheses at a significance level of α = 0.05. Results revealed that surveillance strategy significantly influenced fisheries management effectiveness. Surveillance strategy recorded the highest per-unit effect (R² = 0.412, β = 0.744, p < 0.001); the null hypothesis was rejected. Qualitative findings supported these results, identifying data inaccuracy, resource scarcity, absence of fishing quotas, and inadequate incentives for community surveillance scouts as key constraints on MCS effectiveness. The study concludes that surveillance strategies significantly contribute to fisheries management in Mbita Sub-County. This highlights the need to increase joint patrols and formalise incentives for community surveillance scouts.
Keywords: Fisheries management; illegal fishing; IUU fishing; Lake Victoria; Mbita Sub-County; monitoring, control, and surveillance strategies
References
Aghilinejhad, S. M., Gorgin, S., van Uhm, D., Joolaie, R., Ghorbani, R., Paighambari, S. Y., ... & Jalali, A. (2018). What are the drivers of the occurrence of illegal fishing and conservation barriers to sturgeons in the Caspian Sea? Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 28(3), 690-701.
Baker, S., Constant, N., & Nicol, P. (2023). Oceans justice: trade-offs between sustainable development goals in the Seychelles. Marine Policy, 147, 105357.
Beckman, R., & Sun, Z. (2017). The Relationship between UNCLOS and IMO Instruments. Asia-Pacific Journal of Ocean Law and Policy, 2(2), 201-246.
Belhabib, D., Sumaila, U. R., & Le Billon, P. (2019). The fisheries of Africa: Exploitation, policy, and maritime security trends. Marine Policy, 101, 80-92.
Bellanger, M., Holland, D. S., Anderson, C. M., & Guyader, O. (2019). The incentive effect of joint and several liabilities in fishery cooperatives on regulatory compliance. Fish and Fisheries, 20(4), 715-728. https://doi.org/10.1111/faf.12345
Boenish, R., Willard, D., Kritzer, J. P., & Reardon, K. (2020). Fisheries monitoring: perspectives from the United States. Aquaculture and Fisheries, 5(3), 131-138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aaf.2019.10.002
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2022). Conceptual and design thinking for thematic analysis. Qualitative Psychology, 9(1), 3-26. https://doi.org/10.1037/qup0000196
Clavelle, T., Lester, S. E., Gentry, R., & Froehlich, H. E. (2019). Interactions and management for the future of marine aquaculture and capture fisheries. Fish and Fisheries, 20(2), 368-388.
Cohen, J. (1960). A coefficient of agreement for nominal scales.
El Bilali, H., & Allahyari, M. S. (2018). Transition towards sustainability in agriculture and food systems: Role of information and communication technologies. Information Processing in Agriculture, 5(4), 456-464. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inpa.2018.06.006
Etiegni, C. A. (2022). Fisherfolk participation for sustainable fisheries: an illusion or reality for Lake Victoria (Kenya) co-management. Wageningen University and Research.
Etiegni, C. A., Kooy, M., & Irvine, K. (2019). Promoting social accountability for equitable fisheries within Beach Management Units in Lake Victoria (Kenya). Conservation and Society, 17(1), 63-72. https://doi.org/10.4103/cs.cs_18_10
Evans, L., Cherrett, N., & Pemsl, D. (2011). Assessing the impact of fisheries co-management interventions in developing countries: A meta-analysis. Journal of Environmental Management, 92(8), 1938-1949.
Funge‐Smith, S., & Bennett, A. (2019). A fresh look at inland fisheries and their role in food security and livelihoods. Fish and Fisheries, 20(6), 1176-1195.
Garcia, S. M., Ye, Y., Rice, J., & Charles, A. (2018). Rebuilding of marine fisheries Part 1: Global review. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper, (630/1), I-274.
Gonçalves, L. R. (2021). Regional Fisheries Management Organizations: The Interplay between Governance and Science. Springer Nature.
Guggisberg, S. (2019). The roles of non-governmental actors in improving compliance with fisheries regulations. Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law, 28(3), 314-327.
Hardin, G. (1968). The tragedy of the commons: the population problem has no technical solution; it requires a fundamental extension in morality. Science, 162(3859), 1243-1248.
Holtom, B., Baruch, Y., Aguinis, H., & A Ballinger, G. (2022). Survey response rates: Trends and a validity assessment framework. Human Relations, 75(8), 1560-1584.
Huang, S., & He, Y. (2019). Management of China's capture fisheries: review and prospect. Aquaculture and Fisheries, 4(5), 173-182.
Israel, G. D. (1992). Sampling the evidence of extension program impact. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences, EDIS.
Kara, H. (2020). Creative research methods: A practical guide. Policy Press.
Latifah, E., & Imanullah, M. N. (2018). Applying the Precautionary Principle in Fisheries Management. Jambe Law Journal, 1(1), 13-34.
Levin, P. S., Essington, T. E., Marshall, K. N., Koehn, L. E., Anderson, L. G., Bundy, A., ... & Smith, A. D. (2018). Building effective fishery ecosystem plans. Marine Policy, 92, 48-57.
Lindley, J., & Techera, E. J. (2017). Overcoming complexity in illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing to achieve effective regulatory pluralism. Marine Policy, 81, 71-79.
Løbach, T., Petersson, M., Haberkon, E., & Mannini, P. (2020). Regional fisheries management organisations and advisory bodies: Activities and developments, 2000–2017. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper, (651), I-112. https://doi.org/10.4060/ca7843en
Long, S., & Jones, P. J. (2020). Greenland's offshore Greenland halibut fishery and role of the Marine Stewardship Council certification: A governance case study. Marine Policy, 104095.
Marshall, B. E. (2018). Guilty as charged: Nile perch was the cause of the haplochromine decline in Lake Victoria.
Mugo, R., Waswa, R., Nyaga, J. W., Ndubi, A., Adams, E. C., & Flores-Anderson, A. I. (2020). Quantifying Land Use Land Cover Changes in the Lake Victoria Basin Using Satellite Remote Sensing: The Trends and Drivers between 1985 and 2014. Remote Sensing, 12(17), 2829. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12172829
Nilsson, J. A., Fulton, E. A., Johnson, C. R., & Haward, M. (2019). How to sustain fisheries: Expert knowledge from 34 nations? Water, 11(2), 213. https://doi.org/10.3390/w11020213
Nordquist, M. (Ed.). (2011). United Nations Convention on the law of the sea 1982, Volume VII: a commentary. Brill.
Olale, P., Odote, C., & Kibugi, R. (2020). Leveraging integrated spatial planning for sustainable regulation of coastal tourism activities in Malindi town, Kenya. Western Indian Ocean Journal of Marine Science, 19(1), 63-76.
Ong, D. M. (2020). Transboundary Fisheries Management: The Malaysian Perspective. The Korean Journal of International and Comparative Law, 8(2), 131-177.
Rodriguez, J. P. (2018). Global reintroduction perspectives: 2018. Case studies from around the globe. https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.ch.2018.08.en
Sato, A., Silapajarn, K., & Sulit, V. T. (2018). Tale of two successful fisheries management schemes adopted in Japan. Fish for the People, 16(3), 41-45.
Schaefer, M. B. (1954). Fisheries dynamics and the concept of maximum equilibrium catch.
Serdy, A. (2017). Pacta Tertiis and Regional Fisheries Management Mechanisms: The IUU Fishing Concept as an Illegitimate Short-Cut to a Legitimate Goal. Ocean Development & International Law, 48(3-4), 345-364.
Song, A. M., Scholtens, J., Barclay, K., Bush, S. R., Fabinyi, M., Adhuri, D. S., & Haughton, M. (2020). Collateral damage? Small‐scale fisheries in the global fight against IUU fishing. Fish and Fisheries, 21(4), 831-843.
Ssempijja, D., Einarsson, H. A., Kubiriza, G. K., Lugumira, J. S., & He, P. (2025). An assessment of legislative, regulatory and policy gaps in the management of abandoned, lost, and otherwise discarded fishing gear in Lake Victoria, East Africa. Environmental Development, 56, 101249.
Staudinger, M. D., Goyert, H., Suca, J. J., Coleman, K., Welch, L., Llopiz, J. K., ... & Steinmetz, H. (2020). The role of sand lances (Ammodytes sp.) in the Northwest Atlantic Ecosystem: A synthesis of current knowledge with implications for conservation and management. Fish and Fisheries, 21(3), 522-556. https://doi.org/10.1111/faf.12456
Sumaila, U. R., Alder, J., & Keith, H. (2006). Global scope and economics of illegal fishing. Marine Policy, 30(6), 696-703. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2005.11.001
Sumaila, U. R., Pierruci, A., Oyinlola, M. A., Cannas, R., Froese, R., Glaser, S., ... & Pauly, D. (2022). Aquaculture over-optimism?. Frontiers in Marine Science, 9, 984354. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.984354
Teh, L. S., Cheung, W. W., Christensen, V., & Sumaila, U. R. (2017). Can we meet the Target? Status and future trends for fisheries sustainability. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 29, 118-130.
Toonen, H. M., & Bush, S. R. (2020). The digital frontiers of fisheries governance: Fish attraction devices, drones and satellites. Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 22(1), 125-137. https://doi.org/10.1080/1523908X.2018.1461084
Walters, C. J., & Martell, S. J. (2004). Fisheries ecology and management. Princeton University Press.
