Resource rent capture in lake victoria fisheries

Abstract

Fisheries activities in Lake Victoria have grown tremendously in the 1990s largely due to the export of Nile perch (NP) to mainly European markets. Exploitation of NP has been intensive to the extent of threatening the sustainability of the NP fisheries. Resource rent generation is an important element and driving force for overexploitation of a fishery. This study estimates resource rent capture by government and appropriation by small-scale fishers to determine the level of rent obtained, and how much the government captures the resource rent. Findings reveal that resource rents generates by the small-scale fishers are significant but accrue mostly to vessel and fishing gear owners. In terms of resource rent capture, the government is shown to capture only about 4.3% of rent; leaving the rest to fishers and owners of fishing vessels and gear. The study concludes that for the government to earn more revenue from the NP fishery, more investigation should be undertaken on resource rent generation by large-scale fishers and processors who are also exporters. Due to the poverty reduction drive, it may be wise to capture more resource rents at those levels than from the small-scale fishers. Also, the benefit sharing mechanism at the small-scale level should be improved to favour fisher workers.