Socio-economic prospects and problems in under-exploited offshore marine fisheries: The case of Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) in Kenya coastal fisheries

As the international community grapples with the challenges of a changing climate, one of the most pressing issues is food scarcity caused by fish shortages (Sealite, 2015). The 2007–2008 world food crisis and the food riots that erupted in at least 14 countries in Africa during that time, taught us that the consequences of food crises can be high in terms of political stability and economic development.

World total marine catch was 79.3 million tons in 2016, representing a decrease of almost 2 million tons from 2015 (FAO, 2018a). Fisheries are important for food, nutrition and employment of 10% of the global population within Africa, many of whom struggle to maintain livelihoods (Bennett et al., 2018). Marine and coastal fisheries in sub-Saharan Africa are largely characterized by crowded near-shore fisheries with non-motorized traditional fishing vessels which cannot efficiently explore and exploit off-shore fisheries, thus limiting their effective competition in global industrial fisheries (Mamauag et al., 2013). For instance, one anecdotal joke concerning off-shore Somali fisheries in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) is that, “With one out of every seven Somali children dying before their fifth birth day, Somalia is the only country where people are dying of malnutrition whereas fish are dying of old age”.

Many developing countries are largely characterized by low levels of technological capacities contrary to their enormous endowment with natural resources (Cirera and William, 2017). In spite of dwindling marine fish catches worldwide, there are prospects for increasing fish landings in Africa’s coastal fisheries by enabling small-scale fishers to adapt new fishing technologies that can increase their catch by exploiting previously un-exploited or under-exploited fisheries off-shore (Tim et al., 2018). Off-shore pelagic species like tuna and tuna-like species are the most highly valued fish in the international market compared to demersal fish catches that dominate near shore fishing areas — which are already subject to depletion from Malthusian overfishing (Jentoft et al., 1998, Hauck and Sowman, 2001, Ronaldo and Coleen, 2007). Tuna contributes about US$ 42 billion in end value to the global economy each year, making it the world’s most valuable fish (Pew et al., 2016).

Kenya has a 640 km coastline with an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 230,000 km² and an extended continental shelf of 103,320 km² UNCLOS (1982). The Kenyan coastal waters lie within the upwelling region of the Indian Ocean, thus locating Kenya marine fisheries within the richest tuna belt of the South Western Indian Ocean (SWIO) where 25% of the world’s tuna are caught (GES, 1997, WWF, 2014, Luc van and Nathalie, 2017). Whereas available data indicates that in 2014, the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region (in which Kenyan coastal fisheries lie) produced about 902,203 tons of tuna species worth US$ 6.5 billion, Kenya marine fisheries produced only 0.023% (212 tons) of the tuna catches in spite of its strategic location (Macfadyen, 2016a, Macfadyen et al., 2016b, IOTC, 2018). This is because Kenya marine fisheries is mostly (80%) small-scale artisanal operating in the coastal near-shores (Ikiara, 1999, McClanahan and Mangi, 2004); with traditional fishing gears and methods that are not efficient enough to harvest a scattered resource (Samoilys et al., 2011). Prevailing landed catches are relatively very low in Kenya’s coastal fisheries at an aggregate of 9000 tons against an estimated fishery potential of 150,000–300,000 tons off-shore (KNBS, 2017, WWF, 2014, Okemwa, 2018). This fishery potential is far much greater that the national annual fish landings in Kenya which amount to about 130,000 metric tons; 93% of which originate from fresh water sources. In addition, the high valued tuna and tuna like species found within Kenya’s EEZ can be commercially exploited to improve fisheries contribution to Kenya’s GDP which now stands at only 0.5%. Global tuna prices averaged at US$ 3.55 (Range US$1.55–8.28) in first two quarters of 2018, implying that if off-shore tuna and tuna like species are efficiently exploited in Kenya, the nation could earn additional US$532 million against the current annual national fisheries earnings of US$185 million (FAO, 2018b). Currently though, out of Kenya’s total coastal fish landings, about 1000 tons comprise of off-shore pelagic species, with 32% (322 tons) being high valued tunas (IOTC, 2018). This implies that Kenya is harvesting only 0.3%–0.7% of its offshore fisheries potential.

Tuna species show a natural behavioural tendency to associate to floating objects, probably as meeting points, a spatial reference point or feeding points (Bromhead et al., 2002). Artisanal fishermen have exploited this tendency since the 17th Century by constructing artificial floating objects to attract and aggregate these fish for easier capture (Mitchel de and Allain, 1998). Of late, several oceanic purse seine fleets have also capitalized on the efficiency of this method, thereby deploying modern Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) at sea in order help in targeting tunas (Morgan, 2011). This study assessed the viability FADs fishery as one of the alternative fishing technologies for Kenya marine artisanal fishers to improve livelihood outcomes through exploitation of high valued tuna and tuna-like species.

A FAD is any method, object or construction used for facilitating the harvesting of fish by attracting and thus aggregating them (Bergstrom, 1983, Sasikumar et al., 2015). FADs would benefit Kenyan coastal fishers through aggregation of high valued pelagic species like tuna and reducing fish search time, fuel consumption and fishing pressure on inshore and offshore bottom-fish resources (Mbaru, 2012). Therefore, FADs are expected to result into positive social and economic benefits for Kenya through increased marine fish catches, better monetary value for fish and production of relatively higher Catches Per Unit Effort (CPUEs) for fishers (Alexandra, 2016, IPNLF, 2016). However, FADs could also aggregate juvenile tunas and by-catch thereby contributing to overfishing risks (Gilman, 2011, Morgan, 2011, Bailey and Sumaila, 2018).

FADs have been successfully used in South-East Asia, Western Pacific and Indian Ocean countries (David et al., 2004, Beverly et al., 2012, Marc, 2013). Within the South West Indian Ocean (SWIO) region, some countries are either in the process of conducting trials on FADs or have fully developed FADs fisheries (Laurent et al., 2013, Senedhun, 2013). At the moment, the concept of FADs is not completely new in Kenya coast (Mbaru et al., 2018). Artificial FADs were initiated in Kenya during the South-West Indian Ocean Fisheries Project (SWIOFP, 2005–2011), whose objective was to identify and study exploitable offshore fish stocks within the project area (Mozambique, Madagascar, Comoros, Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa). The FADs project under SWIOFP was largely experimental. In, the Kenya Coastal Development Project (KCDP, 2011–2017) purposed to build on the lessons learnt from SWIOFP’s experiments towards developing a viable FADs fishery in Kenya coast. Whereas fabrication and deployment of deep water and subsurface FADs and participatory mapping with fishers near FAD areas were achieved, KCDP gained very minimal success with regards to adoption of FADs fishery by Kenyan coastal artisanal fishermen.

This study therefore provides socio-economics insights on the Kenyan FADs fishery, with respect to prospects and challenges in its uptake by the coastal artisanal fishers.