Edward Rukunja, the assistant commissioner for fisheries in
the agriculture ministry, stated that Uganda needs to increase its aquaculture
production as fish stocks dwindle, whilst opening the 8th Aquaculture Symposium
hosted by the Walimi Fish Farmers Cooperative Society (WAFICOS). "It is not a challenge for only Uganda. It is worldwide. But
we can engage in these modern fish farming practices and add value to the fish
we produce by processing it before selling," Mr Rukunja said. Currently, Uganda produces about 90 metric tons of fish from
aquaculture. Added to the 450 metric tons of wild catch fish, the country
produces about 530 metric tons of fish annually, reports NewVision. Of this, about 200 metric tons are exported to regional and
European markets, bringing in about $132 million (sh372b) forex annually. "But we can't keep depending on wild catch. Currently, there
is over fishing. And although Government has tried regulating the sector by
introducing Vessel Identification Plates to manage the number of fishermen on
these water bodies, we need to scale up modern fish farming," said Paul Omanyi,
the principal fisheries officer in the agriculture ministry. "We need to restock all valley dams and minor water bodies,
subsidise on feeds for farmers as well as operationalise aqua parks that have
already been set up country wide," he said. 
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