"Lamu Port Project Impacts Kenyan Fishermen's Livelihoods"

...Although ocean fishing only accounts for around seven percent of fish caught in the wild in Kenya each year (the rest comes from rivers and lakes) it is of special importance to Lamu county. There are more than 20 fish landing sites there, some used by as many as 300 fishermen...Each year, China exports fish worth approximately $17 million to Kenya. Though Chinese imports are uncommon in Lamu, they have been blamed for producing unhealthy competition in Kenyan fish markets. One such is the Likoni fish market in Mombasa, where imported mackerel and tilapia sell for as little as $2 a kilogram; while a kilogram of locally caught fish such as red snapper goes for $5. Fishers claim the popularity of Chinese fish in the market has been fuelled by the inability of local fishermen to meet demand, due to the disruption of fish-breeding sites by a sand-harvesting exercise in nearby Tiwi beach. The sand is for the construction of an oil terminal at the port of Mombasa, another project being constructed by the China Communications Construction Company.“I used to get 40 kilogrammes in one catch but since the exercise started I cannot get even 15 kg. The fishmongers don’t want to understand when you raise the price because they will tell you they have the option of buying Chinese fish,” 46-year-old Ali Jarumani says. The 200 fishermen have since sought compensation for the sand exercise in court.

While the fishermen put up a spirited battle to ensure they are compensated for the loss of their livelihoods, residents who make their living from the ocean in other ways also claim to have been badly affected...The people of Lamu, which is a Unesco world heritage site, rely on tourism as well as fishing. Young men learn fishing and making traditional “dhow” ships from their fathers. Faraj Mohamed, a 47-year-old dhow maker and snorkelling guide, said he has had to quit tourism and concentrate on dhow building. “The water around where we used to take tourists for snorkelling started becoming dusty after the dredging started and the coloured fish species disappeared,” he said. “You either take them deeper in the ocean, which is very dangerous, so most of them opt not to snorkel in Lamu.”