By Benjamin Jumbe
The state minister for fisheries Hellen Adoa has called for cooperation from legislators representing fishing communities in addressing the various challenges affecting the fishing sector.
Meeting the MPs in Kajjansi this afternoon, the minister said the purpose of the engagement was to dialogue on bad fishing gear versus compensation and torture of fishermen.
She said the sector faces several challenges including illegal fishing activities and overcapacity where there are too many fishers chasing very few fish.
The minister argues that these unsustainable practices lead to destruction of this resource base and also compromise the quality of fish products and require concerted effort by all stakeholders along the value chain to address so as to improve the production and productivity of the fisheries.
The fisheries sector employs directly, and indirectly over 5.3 million people.