Jacob Ochiewo

• Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute

The Dagaa fishery accounts for the largest production in Lake Victoria, with many socioeconomic benefits to artisanal fishers, traders, and most riparian poor households. However, it has lagged in comparative value to other key endemic species because it is perceived as fish for the poor. This study sought to investigate the influence of Luo socio-...

Whereas small-scale fisheries account for the largest proportion of fish catches and employment in most developing countries, their value remain underestimated due to inadequate data collection systems, open access challenges and unreported landings. This study provided a methodological option to compare, contrast and validate official fisheries st...

This study examined the market linkages and distribution channels of cultured, captured and imported fish in Kenya. A total of 113 fish traders' questionnaires and 10 key informant interviews were administered. Secondary data from published and unpublished records were used to complement primary data. Fish traders were literate enough to express th...

The Kenya Coast is endowed with some of the world’s most valuable coastal and marine resources that not only support economic activities but also the livelihoods of the people. The resources include mangrove forests, estuaries and deltas, sand dunes, beaches, coral reefs, seagrass beds as well as pelagic habitats among others. These resources are e...

The flow regime of River Tana has been altered by a number of socioeconomic activities upstream. Modification of the flow regime of the river has had significant effects on the natural resources allied to the river, its economy and the general welfare of people. The study aimed at establishing the social and economic causes and impacts of modificat...

Migration is a feature of most small-scale fisheries across the world and has previously been described in spatial and temporal terms. This study assessed spatial and temporal migration patterns of fishers in Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique from October 2009 to March 2010 covering important migrant fishers destinations on the coast. The concentrati...

The existing reservoirs on the River Tana (Kenya) were mainly constructed for hydropower generation, with inadequate consideration of the long-term impacts on downstream livelihoods. We investigated the impacts of the reservoirs on people's livelihoods downstream. The results showed a few positive impacts in the vicinity of the reservoirs and numer...

Small-scale mud crab aquaculture was introduced in East Africa in late 1990s as a mangrove friendly aquaculture to improve the livelihood of coastal communities through organised community groups (OCGs). The OCGs approach was a strategy aimed at ensuring benefits to the village and regulating access to the open access resource (land in mangrove for...

Globally, artisanal fisheries are challenged by the combined impacts of overfishing, ecosystem degradation, climate change and lack of management intervention. Little is known of how traditional knowledge/skills held by fishers influence ability to exploit marine resources and whether such information could be incorporated into management practices...

This work was undertaken under the auspices of the main Project on “Participatory Modelling Frameworks to Understand Wellbeing Trade-offs in Coastal Ecosystem Services”. The main objective of this work was to document mangroves linkages to coral reef/seagrass ecosystem services between Mombasa and Takaungu, Kenya especially in supporting fisheries...

This policy brief has been developed following a regional research project designed to compile data on fishers’ movements, the drivers behind these movements and the impacts on host communities. The research was commissioned by the Marine Science for Management (MASMA) programme, under WIOMSA (Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association), to in...

A socio-economic assessment was conducted at Vanga, Shimoni, Majoreni and Gazi villages in the Kenyan south coast with focus on the sea cucumber fishing patterns, the social and economic characteristics of the fisher communities, the contribution of sea cucumbers to the local livelihoods, and analysis of the management systems. The results indicate...

Economic analysis of mangrove reforestation is provided for a replanted Rhizophora mucronata plantation at Gazi Bay, Kenya. Major goods and services from a 12-year plantation were identified as: firewood and building poles, coastal protection, ecotourism, research and education, carbon sequestration and on-site fisheries. The net value of extractab...

Coastal cities in East Africa are growing rapidly and consequently there is a rapid increase in urban sewage production, putting added pressure on already strained treatment systems. As a result, peri-urban mangroves are receiving extensive amounts of sewage but very little is know as to the ecological and societal consequences of this. However, UN...

Kenya ranks among the top exporting countries in the marine aquarium trade within the Western Indian Ocean region. However the fishery has received limited attention by way of research and monitoring despite being established during the mid 1970’s. This paper provides a detailed overview of the dynamics of the fishery based on results of a one-year...

Summary This paper reveals how the socioeconomic and management objectives of a three-year sea cucumber pro- ject in the western Indian Ocean (WIO) (cf. Conand et al. 2006) will be addressed. A conceptual model of sea cucumber resource dynamics is presented. This model encompasses multiple levels and considers the main structures of the sea cucumbe...

A study conducted in South Coast, Kenya to determine the factors that influence the harvesting of fish in the area, assess the changes that have occurred in local fishing practices and their socioeconomic impacts; establish stakeholder characteristics in relation to changing fishing practices; and identify the winners and losers in the changing fis...

This report analyzes the water of the Somali Current identifying pressures and impacts, scoring them for levels of present and future severity, taking into consideration increasing pressures over time in the water basins and the effects of climate change and global warming on the same. The report was undertaken as part of the Global International W...

Mangroves are among the most threatened ecosystems in the world and the coastal forests of East Africa are no exception to this trend. Although conservation, rehabilitation and sustainable management plans have been developed in various tropical regions, only a few locally based approaches have been launched along the Indian Ocean coast of Africa....

This report is a culmination of the Integrated Problem Analysis process on priority issues carried out on the Kenyan marine and coastal resources and the identification of underlying causes, within the GEF MSP Sub-Sahara Africa Project on Integrated Problem Analysis. The most distinctive features of the Kenya coast include the continuous fringing...

The coast of Kenya has a narrow coastal plain and stretches from Tanzania in the south to Somalia in the north. A number of important rivers drain through it. Population distribution is quite uneven along this coastal zone having developed in clusters linked to artisanal fishing, trade and port activities. The coast's northern districts of Lamu and...