The Tuna Fisheries Development and Management Strategy is a national policy with a cross-sectoral approach. The timeframe of the Strategy is 5 years between 2013 and 2018. The overall goal of the Strategy is to transit tuna fisheries from artisanal-based fisheries to modern commercially oriented coastal and oceanic fisheries and accelerate economic growth of the marine fisheries with direct positive impacts to employment for youth and women, food security, wealth creation, improved incomes and foreign exchange earnings. Gender and children issues will be incorporated in the tuna fishery sub-sector. Equity in opportunities will be enhanced according to the results of social impact assessments. Poverty will be reduced with the direct positive impacts of tuna fisheries development to employment, wealth creation and improved income. The relevant stakeholders will be engaged in decision-making and management. Tuna stocks will be maintained at sustainable levels and negative tuna fishing impacts on the marine ecosystem will be minimized. Tuna harvesting will be regulated through the establishment of quota and implementation of control rules. Furthermore fishing effort will be controlled by establishing optimal fishing capacity and enforcing the fishing effort limits. Regional and international tools and instruments will be adopted and domesticated with regard to appropriate tuna fishing technology. In order to contribute to the economic growth and social well-being of the population, tuna fisheries will be transformed into productive and sustainable artisanal fisheries and modern commercially oriented coastal and oceanic fisheries. Access to domestic and international markets will be promoted. Barriers in export will be removed to achieve optimal value tolerance. Cold storage facilities will be developed at the fish landing sites through investment and funding. The capacity of daily off-loading at the landing sites will be enhanced to increase the number of distant water fishing landing. Access to sufficient potable water and waste disposal facilities will be improved to on-shore processing areas. Credit will be extended for fisheries activities to support tuna enterprises. A domestic tuna fleet will be established through leasing, flagging and joint ventures between foreign and local investors. Measures will be taken to mitigate the adverse impacts of oil and gas exploration on tuna fisheries. Institutional capacity building will be ensured to enhance effective tuna fisheries governance in compliance with the national, regional and international requirements. Existing legal framework on the conservation and development of tuna fisheries will be strengthened. An information management system will be established to apply best available scientific information and knowledge to tuna fisheries management and development, with a precautionary approach. Adequate support will be provided to research activities, monitoring, and reporting of data and research. Adverse impacts of climate change on tuna fisheries will be addressed to ensure sustainable use of tuna resources. Climate change adaptation and mitigation measures will be developed according to the reports and updates from international climate change monitoring institutions. The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries shall be responsible for the implementation of this Strategy, in cooperation with relevant Ministries, government agencies, research institutions and civil society organizations. Furthermore private sector comprising of all the value chain actors including fishers, processors, traders, other investors and their associations and other key stakeholders shall be actively involved in the implementation of this Strategy. In order to ensure efficient and effective implementation of this Strategy, a multi-stakeholder Monitoring and Evaluation team will be established.
Kenya · 2013-07-01