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Traditional Fish Smoking in Western Kenya by Vivienne Abbott
Most of the Nile perch is smoked in 'lunya' - a rectangular mud kiln built with a wood frame in the 'daub and wattle' style. Metal or wood bars support the wire fish trays above the fire. There are often five or six trays and the top of the kiln is usually covered over by a corrugated sheet or reed mats. There is a door through which the firewood is fed (see figure).
The fish is usually steaked or split but is seldom filetted because the skin and the bones help to prevent the smoked fish breaking up during transportation. The preferred woods for fish smoking are the slow burning, slow growing indigenous hardwoods. The processors often cannot get these, and they pay high prices for any fuelwood. Very few trees are planted for this purpose because the communities are often transient and do not own land. Most of the fish processing, including smoking, is carried out by women who are traditionally (as in many parts of the world) not involved in the fishing. However, over the last couple of years, the export and luxury markets for Nile perch have been growing to supply Israel, Spain, Holland and the U.K. as well as hotels and restaurants in Nairobi and Mombasa. The profits in these markets are high and the prices paid at the lake to the fishermen are only a small percentage of the final cost, so the traders can afford to pay higher prices at the lake shore than the women fish processors. In the past few months more and more refrigerated trucks have arrived in areas such as Rusinga Island and the 'traditional' smoking activities have declined sharply. Although the fishermen and the boat owners are making higher profits, the women are being cut out of the business, and because the finances of the men and the women are often kept quite separate, it is the women and often the children who will suffer. The growing independence of the business woman is lost when her livelihood is destroyed in this fashion. Many women are complaining that, not only are their businesses suffering, but it is also becoming difficult to buy fish fresh or smoked for their families. As fish is a major source of cheap protein in the region, this could have serious implications for health and nutrition. When Nile perch were introduced into the lake and rapidly increased in numbers, there was a great deal of unfavourable press-coverage about the ecological balance of the lake being destroyed and how the Nile perch was eating the other species. However, it has become apparent that the Nile perch have become a mainstay for the fishing communities around the lake shore. It is even called 'saviour' in the local language, and now it is possible that this valuable resource will cease to benefit these communities. There is much talk of using trawlers to supply the export market, and this may eventually cut out the local fishermen as well. Too little is known about the extent of the resource and whether the use of trawlers will cause over-fishing. There are always suggestions that the Kenyan waters are over-fished. Ultimately if this resource is not sympathetically and well managed, it will be the local people who suffer. [top] [end]Contents: Boiling Point 15: Stove Progress in Kenya and Sri Lanka
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Page created:
28 August 2008; Last edited:
03 September 2008; Version: 0 | ||||||||||
Pagename: BP15:TraditionalFishSmokingInWesternKenya @HEDON: QFNA | ||||||||||
