Fisheries Structure and Fishing Effort in Lake Turkana: Findings from the 2026 Lake-Wide Frame Survey

Lake Turkana supports an important small-scale fishery, yet comprehensive information on fishing effort, fleet structure and landing-site conditions has been limited. Between 17 February and 6 March 2026, KMFRI, in collaboration with County Governments of Turkana and Marsabit, IHE Delft, UNESCO, WFP and the Kenya Fisheries Service, conducted a lake-wide Frame Survey covering 115 landing sites across seven wards. Using KoboToolbox-based census enumeration aligned with standard fisheries Frame Survey procedures, the survey documented 4,153 operational fishing craft, 10,066 crew and 4,854 owners. The fleet was overwhelmingly artisanal and non-motorised: rafts (Ng’atadei) accounted for 49% of craft, while 13.3% were motorised. Gillnets (64.9%) and monofilament nets (28.5%) dominated gear use, with 2.0–2.5-inch mesh sizes prevalent. Small-mesh fishing targeted the multispecies pelagic and inshore fishery, particularly Alestes spp. (Juse) and tilapiines (Kokine), consistent with concurrent experimental fishing and hydroacoustic findings.

Infrastructure was limited, with fewer than 5% of sites reporting potable water, cold storage or sanitation. Craft registration was 45% and licensing 34.4%, while 26% of sites had no fisheries-staff coverage. Women constituted 1.9% of crew but 13.6% of owners, while 224 fisher drowning fatalities were reported over two years. The survey establishes the first robust, georeferenced sampling frame for Lake Turkana, providing a basis for future Catch Assessment Surveys and evidence-based fisheries management, infrastructure planning and fisher-safety interventions.