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dam-l Uganda fish poisoning leads to ban in EU/LS

>From the Mail & Guardian, April 8 1999

              Uganda could lose $100m from EU fish ban

              European countries are likely to ban fish from Uganda, where
fishermen have been spraying
              poison on to lakes to make catching the fish easier.


              JENNIFER BAKYABWA reports


                   UGANDA stands to lose an average annual revenue of 100
million US Dollars from fish exports
                   if the threat to ban fish exports to the European Union
(EU), due to fish poisoning, is
                   implemented.

              Fresh fish exports is the third largest foreign exchange
earner after coffee and tourism for Uganda. On
              average, Uganda earns an annual income of 389 million US
Dollars from coffee, and 120 million US
              Dollars from tourism.

              Uganda mainly exports the Nile perch which breeds in deeper
waters. The most affected species is,
              however, tilapia that lives in shallow waters. Fish poisoning
is rampant in shallow waters.

              Local authorities have banned the selling of fish in five
districts, where cases of poisoning is rampant,
              for a month. The ban, which was effected last month, affects
both fresh and smoked fish.

              Fish poisoning is rampant in the dry season when the catch is
low and local demand high. The
              offenders spray chemicals near their nets. The fish
suffocate, die and later float, making it easy for the
              fishermen to pick them.

              The decomposing fish can be sighted from a distance, floating
along Lake Victoria's shores.

              The fish are transported at night and vehicles unloaded
between midnight and dawn. The fish are sold
              for as low as half US dollar compared to the normal price of
two or three dollars.

              The affected fish are usually pale brown, with white slim
gills. The scales can easily be removed. The
              fish have an offensive smell of decomposition, and a milky
dull pupil.

              Health authorities say the fish are poisoned by common
agricultural pesticides like endosulfan, diozone
              and chlorphenviphos. Endosulfan, supplied under various trade
names, is sprinkled on crops.
              Chlorphenviphos is used for spraying ticks on cattle.

              ''We acknowledge we have a big problem concerning fish
poisoning,'' says an official from the
              Ministry of Agriculture in Kampala.

              Eva Kasirye, who is the Executive Director of Uganda National
Bureau of Standards (UNBS), says
              efforts to combat fish poisoning have been deterred by
''greed'' among the members of the East
              African Cooperation (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda) who share
Lake Victoria.

              She claims that the guards, who patrol Lake Victoria, often
succumb to bribery.

              The situation has been further worsened by the fact that the
Ministry of Agriculture has only three
              inspectors to monitor and stop fish poisoning on the Ugandan
side of the Lake Victoria, the second
              largest in the world.

              ''Fish poisoning is serious health problem. This
              war must be fought by everybody,'' says an
              official at the Ministry of Health in Kampala.

              The European Union, Uganda's key fish importer,
              has questioned the quality of the fish. Holland has
              asked the Uganda Fish Processors Association
              (UFPA) to guarantee quality if it is to continue
              importing the fish.

              The incidence comes at a time when there is an
              increase in demand for the Nile Perch fillet in
              Japan, Singapore and Austria.

              The first case of fish poisoning was reported in Uganda in
1996. Health officials say fish poisoning
              was partially responsible for the recent outbreak of cholera,
which killed three people in Kampala, and
              hospitalised 87 around the East African country.

              The officials say all the dead had symptoms of chemical
poisoning. The clinical signs of victims of
              poisoned fish include acute stomach pains, diarrhoea,
excessive salivation and pinpointed pupils.

              The most affected areas are eastern and central Uganda.

              In 1997, EU banned fish exports from Uganda, Kenya and
Mozambique following an outbreak of
              cholera epidemic. The ban was lifted only after bilateral
arrangements between the EU and the three
              countries.

              Only fish from Lake Edward in Western Uganda are considered
safe because of the vigilance of the
              local authorities.

              Government's pace of handling fish poisoning has increased.
Twenty six people have been arrested.
              They face a three-year jail term if found guilty, under the
National Environment and Management
              Authority laws for poisoning fish and polluting the environment.

              Government has directed the local authorities to arrest all
suspicious fishermen bringing large volumes
              of fish especially in the morning. The public has been warned
not to buy fish unless they are sure of the
              source.

              --IPS/Misa, April 8, 1999.

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      Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
        and Editor, World Rivers Review
           International Rivers Network
              1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
                  Tel. (510) 848 1155   Fax (510) 848 1008
                        http://www.irn.org
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