By Fidel Boy Leon
Policy alone cannot transform livelihoods. Speeches and slogans may inspire change, but real transformation comes from action on the ground, training, tools, access, and ownership.
That’s the reality the Government of Uganda is embracing as it transitions fishing communities from open-lake survival to land-based aquaculture.
This is no abstract reform. It’s a practical, grassroots solution to an increasingly unsustainable status quo. You cannot keep shouting at the lake to give it more fish when its breeding grounds are depleted, its waters overfished, and its future threatened by chaos.
Uganda’s fisheries sector must now fatten itself the right way, through systems, innovation, and sustainable production. And that means shifting the centre of gravity from water to land.
This vision was sharply articulated on August 5, 2025, when President Yoweri Museveni met with fishing communities, SACCO leaders, district fisheries officers, and indigenous fishermen from across the country at State Lodge, Jinja.
His message was unambiguous: “You don’t have to fight for the lake. Let us begin to fish in a modern way, using the land.”
The President called for a massive national shift toward fish farming, championing pond aquaculture as a more productive, controlled, and profitable model for the modern fisherman.
Drawing from examples in Limoto and Kawumu, where households have earned over UGX 80 million annually from pond farming, Museveni emphasised that fishponds are no longer experiments but are now a working proof of concept.
While fish farming offers a new frontier, Museveni also laid out a roadmap to restore order and ownership on the lakes. For years, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF)’ Fisheries Protection Unit (FPU) has played a controversial but necessary role in curbing illegal fishing, protecting breeding zones, and deterring cross-border exploitation.
But this, the President said, must be a temporary phase. “Now that we have peace, let’s organise this sector and eventually return the army to the barracks.”
He directed that indigenous fishermen are the rightful custodians of Uganda’s fishing heritage and should therefore take the lead in lake protection, working in tandem with FPU patrols and investors who are committed to legal, sustainable practices.
The long-term goal is clear: a self-regulated, community-led fisheries sector rooted in ancestral knowledge and modern discipline. This makes the shift to fish farming economical and not only ecological.
“We misuse the wetlands and underutilise the drylands.”That’s why we must organise domestic fish farming,” Museveni said.
The President stressed that subsistence fishing can no longer meet the country’s development needs. Instead, he called for government support to dig fishponds, SACCO organisation of indigenous fishing communities and the creation of a UGX 1 billion fisheries fund per SACCO, separate from the Parish Development Model (PDM).
He reiterated that the PDM’s UGX 100 million per parish is inadequate for capital-intensive sectors like fishing, which need specialised investment to scale up.
In addition, he directed the Ministry of Agriculture to finalise pending fishing regulations within one month, signalling a push for more structured and sustainable fisheries’ governance.
Safeguarding Uganda’s lakes is a key pillar of the President’s fisheries reform agenda. He stressed that fish breeding zones (byondo) must be protected like “national parks in water”, underscoring their ecological and economic importance.
He issued stern warnings against destructive practices such as building near breeding areas, draining swamps, which lead to the formation of floating islands, and the use of illegal fishing gear, including banned nets and threads. He pledged to criminalise these harmful tools as part of wider efforts to restore ecological balance.
To strengthen enforcement, he revealed that surface radar systems are already operational on Lake Albert, with plans underway to extend similar real-time monitoring technology to Lake Victoria, enabling more effective surveillance and protection of the country’s water bodies.
“The fish business is bigger than coffee in the world. We must protect our water like we protect our forests,” Museveni said.
“You cannot fatten a cow by shouting at it.” That saying holds a mirror to Uganda’s past, where endless warnings and enforcement alone failed to curb illegal fishing or poverty on the lakes. It also speaks to the future: real growth will come from real support, training, and systems that work.