Abstract:

Lake Victoria is economically very important to the East African Community (EAC) Partner States of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. It is the largest inland lake in Africa and has the most productive freshwater fishery in the world. By 2003 the fishery was producing about half a million tonnes of fish annually valued at US$ 600 million at the landings and US$ 250 million in export. In order to sustainably manage the fisheries resources, the EAC Partner States formed the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organisation (LVFO) through a Convention signed in 1994 to coordinate efforts towards sustainable utilization of the fisheries resources of the lake. As a specialised institution of the EAC, the objective of the LVFO is to foster cooperation among the Partner States by: Harmonizing national measures, developing and adopting conservation and management measures for the sustainable utilization of the living resources of Lake Victoria through: promoting proper management and optimum utilization of the fisheries and other resources of the lake; enhancing the capacity of existing fisheries institutions; providing a forum for discussion of the impacts of initiatives on the lake; providing for the conduct of research on the living resources and the environment; coordinating training and extension in all aspects of fisheries; serving as a clearing house and a data bank for information on the fisheries resources of the lake; and promoting the dissemination of information.