Do Not Mess With Fish 78!

and you thought fish were fun! well they certainly are not on the tin shack covered island of Migingo, in Lake Victoria, Kenya and Uganda both claim Migingo, not so much for the land itself but the fish stocks that surround it, dwindling fish stocks are the issue, Lake Victoria is under assault from a combination of pollution, over-fishing and receding water levels, it is harder than ever to catch fish close to the shore, Migingo has, therefore, become a magnet for both countries that border this part of the lake, more than 500 fishermen live on the one-acre island and trawl for the huge and valuable silver-scaled Nile perch, (in a previous blog there is a picture of one that did not get away), John Donaldson, who monitors border disputes at the International Boundaries Research Unit at Durham University, said that ownership of the island is clear, according to a British colonial-era document from 1926, “Migingo Island is within Kenya — but not by much, You are talking 700 or 800 metres,” he said, but even as we speak the dispute seems to be escalating, the trouble started in 2004, he said, when Ugandan fishermen living on Migingo appealed to their Government for protection from pirates who would steal their catch and equipment: outboard motors, nets, even boats, Uganda sent armed police, who raised a national flag, but hope fully cooler heads will prevail.