''The main aim of the exercise was to clean the lake from the increasing number of nets that have affected fishing and navigation and we have achieved that,'' he said. Kagundu added that the planned restocking would be carried out this week with stakeholders targeting 100,000 fingerlings.
He added that fishermen would contribute half of this while the rest would come from stakeholders and the county government. Speaking over the phone, the fisheries officer confirmed the incident adding that they were keenly following it up. ''I have received the complaints from the fishermen and we are liaising with our KWS counterparts so that we can resolake-naivasha-massive-clean-up-exerciselve the issue amiably,'' he said.
Meanwhile, there was drama in Naivasha after irate fishermen from Lake Naivasha clashed with Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) rangers accusing them of stealing their fish and nets. During the incident at Karagita, the fishermen confiscated a boat used by the three rangers and the stolen fish, accusing the officers of overstepping their mandate.
At one time, the officers had to cock their guns as the over 100 fishermen and traders cornered them saying that they had been doing the illegal business for the last one month. Trouble started after the rangers using their patrol boat confiscated over thirty nets and all the harvested fish overnight.
According to the chairman of the LThree Day Fishing Ban Lifted In Lake Naivasha After A Massive Clean UP Exerciseake Naivasha Boat Owners Association, David Kilo, the mandate to inspect nets and boats lay with fisheries officers and not KWS. He said that the trio had on various occasions confiscated the fishermen's nets and later sold the fish in the nearby Naivasha town.
''They have been venturing into the lake every night and either stealing from the fishermen nets or confiscating their equipment,'' he said. Kilo called on KWS to reign in the officers adding that they would not release the seized boat until disciplinary action was taken.
''We are holding their patrol boat which they have been using to oppress us and steal our fish and we shall release it once action is taken against the errant officers,'' he said