Mukene price crisis: How government’s ‘hurry-up’ net ban has hit wallets, livelihoods across Eastern Uganda

A Mukene (silver fish) trader dries her stock at the entrance of Jinja Central Market in Jinja City recently. PHOTO/DENIS EDEMA.

Three months after the government intensified restrictions on silver fish (Mukene) fishing, the prices of the popular local delicacy have more than doubled in parts of eastern Uganda. The sharp price spike has sparked widespread panic among fishing communities, triggering severe concerns over skyrocketing food costs, rising school dropout rates, and lost livelihoods.

The crisis follows a February 20 ministerial directive by the State Minister for Fisheries, Ms Hellen Adoa, which banned the controversial "hurry-up" method of catching silver fish across all Ugandan waters. While the government maintains the move is crucial to protect dwindling Nile perch stocks, landing sites that were once bustling hubs of economic activity have been reduced to quiet, idle shorelines.

READ: Mukene traders feel the pain as new govt policy begins to bite

At the Bwondha Landing Site in Mayuge District, the financial shockwaves of the enforcement are stark. The price of a single basin of silver fish has skyrocketed to Shs120,000, up from its previous price of between Shs70,000 and Shs80,000.Mr James Oyuki, the chairperson of the Fisheries Management Committee at Bwondha, revealed that the acute shortage of local catch has forced Ugandan traders to look across the border to survive.

“Silver fish is now being brought in from neighbouring Kenya and transported by boat through Dolwe landing site in Namayingo to Bwondha landing site. Prices vary depending on the catches available on any given day,” Mr Oyuki explained.A similar, if not worse, economic reality is unfolding at the Kiyindi Landing Site in Buikwe District. Mr Amiri Kiggundu, the President of the Silver Fishers, Traders and Exporters Platform Uganda (STEP-Uganda), reported that a basin of Mukene that previously retailed for between Shs35,000 and Shs40,000 now fetches between Shs80,000 and Shs90,000.

A man loads Nile perch into a fish truck at Bwondha Landing Site in Mayuge District. PHOTO/ TAUSI NAKATO

The anatomy of the ban: Why the ‘hurry-up’ method is targeted

In her February directive, Minister Hellen Adoa defended the restrictions as a necessary, albeit painful, intervention aimed at promoting responsible fishing practices and salvaging the country's dwindling marine resources.

The "hurry-up" method involves deploying massive, heavy nets that sweep wide sections of the lake. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), this technique is highly