Eronda
JF-Expert Member
- Dec 16, 2025
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In a bid to address challenges affecting the fishing sector in Uganda, the government has issued new guidelines which among others require all fisher men to obtain a license.
The new guidelines were announced on Thursday by the Minister of State for Fisheries, Robert Migadde.
After September 15, 2026, Migadde said that all fishing boats that will not have applied for license will be removed from all lakes and other fishing water bodies.
The licenses that will be issued will be species specific. Meaning the license issued for example for fishing of Nile perch will be different from that for fishing of Nile Tilapia. Each fishing activity will have its own independent accompanying license. The licenses are non-transferable and can’t be shared unless they lose their purpose.
According to government, some of the biggest challenges affecting the fisheries industry in Uganda include; scarcity of fish and increasing fishing capacity meaning too many fishers and fishing boats and gears are targeting the few fish available in the waters, difficulties in implementing species specific licensing as very few boats are being licensed and majority unlicensed, rampant use of monofilament nets, continuous importation and use of other illegal gears that are locally made at the landing sites.
Others include; excessive use of lights for fishing of the small pelagics (silver fish), use of hurry up methods, wrong members in the co-management committees, harvesting of fish in fish breeding and nursery grounds etc.
“All these are causing low production and productivity of the fish that we require. This means our fish processing plants cannot receive the required number of fish for processing, the foreign exchange earnings are also therefore reduced, fish available for human consumption in the country is inadequate etc,” Migadde said
source: Chimp reports
The new guidelines were announced on Thursday by the Minister of State for Fisheries, Robert Migadde.
After September 15, 2026, Migadde said that all fishing boats that will not have applied for license will be removed from all lakes and other fishing water bodies.
The licenses that will be issued will be species specific. Meaning the license issued for example for fishing of Nile perch will be different from that for fishing of Nile Tilapia. Each fishing activity will have its own independent accompanying license. The licenses are non-transferable and can’t be shared unless they lose their purpose.
According to government, some of the biggest challenges affecting the fisheries industry in Uganda include; scarcity of fish and increasing fishing capacity meaning too many fishers and fishing boats and gears are targeting the few fish available in the waters, difficulties in implementing species specific licensing as very few boats are being licensed and majority unlicensed, rampant use of monofilament nets, continuous importation and use of other illegal gears that are locally made at the landing sites.
Others include; excessive use of lights for fishing of the small pelagics (silver fish), use of hurry up methods, wrong members in the co-management committees, harvesting of fish in fish breeding and nursery grounds etc.
“All these are causing low production and productivity of the fish that we require. This means our fish processing plants cannot receive the required number of fish for processing, the foreign exchange earnings are also therefore reduced, fish available for human consumption in the country is inadequate etc,” Migadde said
source: Chimp reports
