Rwanda National Police

Strengthened marine police operations against illegal fishing and use of destructive fishing gears, resulted in the seizing of eight illicit nets and five boats, which were being used by poachers in Lake Kivu.

The operations conducted in the night of Wednesday, September 23, around Nkombo Island in Nkombo Sector, Rusizi District also led to the arrest of four poachers.

The Commanding Officer (CO) of Marine Police, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Elias Mwesigye, said that the strengthened operations are meant to fight and prevent all malpractices conducted in water bodies.

"The operations are either targeted based on information largely provided by fishing cooperatives and informers or as part of our usual surveillance.

This is how we managed to know, pursued and arrested the four poachers on Wednesday night at about 11:30pm, with the help of community policing partners at Nkombo Island, and impounded their eight illicit and destructive nets called kaningini as well as five boats, which they were using," ACP Mwesigye said.

The illicit fishing nets, he said, will be disposed of while the poachers currently detained at Nkombo Police station, will be released upon paying the fines.

The law N°58/2008 of 10/09/2008 determining the organization and management of aquaculture and fishing in Rwanda provides that the right to fishing in public waters is only granted by a competent authority, which issues the fishing license.

Any person, who engages in fishing activities without authorization shall be liable to a fine ranging from Rwf50,000 to Rwf200,000 and an imprisonment of 3 to 6 months or one of them, and dispossession of the equipment used.

Article 11 outlaws the use of “poisonous substances aimed at stunning, weakening or killing fish; applying explosives; using electromagnetic procedures or electrocution; flashing water with an aim of capturing fish; fishing where water organisms are reproduced.

"The increased operations in Lake Kivu are also meant to enforce the recent government directive on the two-month biological break--August and September--to facilitate fish restocking," ACP Mwesigye added.

This operation came less than a week when Marine Police rescued two poachers from drowning in Lake Kivu after they were attacked by four suspected robbers in the night.

In response, the four suspected robbers were also arrested, the boat they used in the attack seized while the illicit fishing nets that were being used by the attacked poachers were seized.