Senate Sails to the Rescue in Hoteliers Row With Chinese Fish Cagers

The Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, chaired by Senator David Wakoli (Bungoma) visited Homa Bay County on October 2, 2026, to look into the controversial establishment and operation of commercial fish cages in Lake Victoria.

Senator Moses Otieno Kajwang (Homa Bay) also promised to present the petition to the Senate, and the Speaker for committing it to the Committee with a 60-day deadline for its report before the next Jamhuri Day, the kind of timely, accountable action that tourism stakeholders have long called for.

The Committee’s engaged with Homa Bay County officials, fisheries stakeholders, cage farmers, fishermen, tourism operators and other lake users with a particular focus on compliance with licensing, environmental and public participation requirements for commercial fish cages.

The siting of cages along public beaches, water transport routes and in front of hotels and resorts was also investigated by the Senators, and a review of the zoning framework to designate aquaculture areas and prevent conflicts among lake users promised, with waste management, including wastewater treatment and proper disposal of dead fish discussed.

Lake Victoria is the backbone of tourism, fishing, transport and livelihoods in Homa Bay and across the Western Circuit and “responsible, well-regulated and sustainably sited aquaculture investment that coexists with tourism, public access, lake safety and a healthy ecosystem,” was called for by the said Senators,

Robert Ayoko, Secretary General, Lake Victoria Tourism Association (LVTA) and Chairman, Homa Bay County Tourism and Cultural Association (HBTCA) called for the Senate Committee to kindly “table a report with clear recommendations on regulation, zoning and environmental management and the Homa Bay County Government and national agencies to enforce licensing and environmental compliance, and to relocate installations that obstruct public beaches, navigation routes and tourism zones.”

Cage farmers, investors and tourism operators will continue dialogue towards a balanced, shared use of the lake, with the LVTA and HBTCA remain ready to support the Committee with data, submissions and stakeholder mobilisation to secure a lasting solution.

The Alliance of Lake Front Hospitality and Tourism Operators of Suba North and South Constituencies had previously petitioned against the unregulated proliferation of commercial fish cages in the Mbita and Rusinga Township Tourism Zones (and Lake Victoria in general).

Over a dozen registered hotel owners, resort operators, and eco-tourism investors within the Mbita and Rusinga Island Township areas had objected to the setting up of industrial cage fish farming systems directly adjacent to or in front of their commercial hospitality properties.

“While we recognize aquaculture as an economic driver,” their petition to the county government had beseeched, “ the current trend of placing massive industrial cages within immediate proximity of prime hospitality shorelines (such as Koguna Beach, Nyachebe Beach, Rusinga Island, and Mbita Point) threatens to permanently dismantle the multi-million-shilling local tourism economy.”

They had quoted the violation of spatial zoning rights, infringement on Riparian rights and environmental degradation by the (mostly) Chinese cage fish farmers who have flooded the area.

SPECIFIC NEGATIVE IMPACTS ON THE TOURISM INDUSTRY

• Severe Visual and Aesthetic Pollution: The core asset of the Mbita and Rusinga tourism circuit is its pristine, unobstructed lake views and sunsets. Clustered industrial cages, floating plastic barrels, and security rafts convert scenic tourism viewpoints into unappealing industrial manufacturing zones.
• Severe Water and Odour Pollution: Intensive fish stocking results in a high accumulation of fish feces and rotting, uneaten feed pellets. Because local lake currents naturally push toward the mainland shorelines, this organic waste washes up on the beaches, creating terrible odors and severe public health and sanitation issues for lake resort guests.
• Cages erected in bays e.g. Ngodhe Bay are going to permanently contaminate the waters given that no current exists to remove the excess feed deposit.
• Destruction of Recreational Water Tourism: Cages and their extensive underwater mooring lines completely block safe areas for guest boat rides, sport fishing, swimming, jet-skiing, and lakeside dining.
• Economic Devaluation and Job Losses: The hospitality sector is a primary employer in Mbita, hiring hundreds of local youth in service, security, and supply chains. Ruining the aesthetic and sanitary appeal of these hotels would directly crash occupancy rates, leading to immediate business closures and mass local layoffs.
• Interference with fish breeding grounds leading to dwindling stocks of free-range Tilapia: The bays are naturally breeding grounds for fish. Current fish cages have been installed in natural breeding grounds. Currently the hospitality sector is experiencing severe shortage of plate size fish which is what hoteliers purchase from the fishermen for sale to guests and customers; if the current trend continues, in  future it may become impossible to have supply of free range fish- which is one of the things tourist seek to consume when they visit the hotels.

To prevent ongoing conflict and economic damage, the hospitality investors wanted the National and County Governments to execute an Immediate Zoning Freeze: (place an immediate moratorium on the issuance of any new aquaculture or cage fishing licenses within the immediate township waters of Mbita and Rusinga Island); Removal: mandate the immediate removal or relocation of any existing fish cages currently anchored in front of or in close proximity to any licensed hotel, resort, or public recreational beach and bays.

With three more Tourism Sector saving demands that they had outlined as follows: –

1. Mandatory Multi-Sector Approvals: Establish a Multispectral committee that should engage with NEMA and the Fisheries Department Approvers before Approval of any location as suitable for fish cages and/or issuance of no objection letters. Currently the engagement seems to be only with the local Beach Management Unit (BMU) yet they are not the only players or persons/businesses to be affected by fish cages.
2. Designate Exclusive Industrial Aquaculture Zones: Force all current and future commercial cage fish investors to move their operations into deep-water, open-lake zones miles away from urban township shorelines, bays, hospitality facilities, and active ferry and boat navigation channels.

• No Additional Cages: The Current firms already with Cages in the affected area should not erect any additional cages pending stakeholder engagement, Zoning and the legislative framework aforementioned.
  Mitigation measures: All Farms operating breeding ponds within the mentioned areas to install waste treatment plants and recycle/ treat the water and to immediately desist from emptying pond waste into the lake. Additionally, there be ordered an immediate cessation of disposal of dead fish into the lake.

Hospitality industry investors like Magdalene Nzisa – who is the proprietor of the beautiful Victoria Sands Lodge as well as the Takawiri Island Resort – have been at the forefront of “making Mbita the new Mombasa” so that away from the seaside resorts, visitors – both local and foreign – can explore the beauty of the lakeside shore, uncaged from Chinese fisheries.

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Tony Mochama is a journalist and author of the upcoming book, ‘How to be an MCA’ (Mvua Press, 2026)