Fishermen are reporting a big reduction in the size of their catches in Abyei. They say they can spend a whole day with their nets and go home in the evening with only a handful of fish.

Abyei Today reported that fish stocks are running out at different ponds while plentiful stocks remain only at Athai and Yura where the security situation has not been good.

In Agok, fisherman Abior Madut said many ponds had run dry. He also pointed out that local authorities had designated some ponds for the use of animals only. He said the fisherman could travel to farther places for fish but this made it difficult to get the fish to the market without rotting first.

In Aniet, fish seller Arop Alor told Abyei Today supplies had fallen to a trickle. Traders had no money to pay for fuel to travel to places where fish was more plentiful, and those places were often unsafe.

Fish seller Adam Abdrahim, who sells fried fish, said he had to charge higher prices to customers because it was costing him more to buy fresh fish. But people did not want to pay more, and he was making very little money, he said.

According to Deng Goch Deng, a veterinarian at the Abyei Area Authority's Ministry of Animal Resources and Fisheries, fish were struggling to survive in small bodies of water during the dry season. But he also blamed fishermen for using nets with small mesh sizes that result in the catch of young fish before they grow to full size.

He advised fishermen to convert to nets with a bigger mesh size. He said the local administration has plans to employ people to check on this and to train fishermen about this issue.

File photo: A woman preparing fish in Lul village, Upper Nile State (Radio Tamazuj)