More than 1,200 fishermen in Lamu County have been certified to supply lobster fish to the international market, in a move likely to boost their lives.

Lamu Fisheries director Simon Komu said the county was selected to supply lobster fish to the Middle East and European countries.

Fishermen have started supplying live lobsters to Japan, China, Pakistan among other countries as the Europe markets awaits to kick of by mid-January, he said while speaking to journalists.

“Lamu fishermen are already supplying live lobsters to Japan, China and India while in European countries they will supply frozen lobsters to Britain, Germany, Scotland among others and the market is set to kick off by mid January,” Komu said. 

He noted that Lamu waters has plenty of crustacean family of fish that includes lobsters which are rare to find in other Coastal areas.

Technical fishing modes

“Lamu is the home of the crustacean family of fish that includes the lobster unlike other coastal areas where you have to fish in deep sea with very technical fishing modes to get such fish that is why our fishermen here got the certification,” Komu said.

Komu added that among the certified fishermen who will benefit, 700 of them will come from Kizingitini village in Pate Island within Lamu County.

“All the fishermen in Kizingitini village practice lobster fishing and they do bulk fishing so we will have 700 of them from that village,” he said.

Komu said in Kenya one kilogram of lobster or any crustacean fish is sold at Sh10,000 hence with the international supply it will boost the local fishermen business. 

“This new market will highly improve the livelihood of our fishermen in Lamu and our economy will improve too,” he said.

Crustacean fish are a class of fish well known with a high nutritional and medicinal value.

Anwar Kassim a fisherman from Lamu Island said that most fishermen in the area lived in poverty but with the new international lobster market that has come up, their livelihoods will now improve.

“We are happy and hopeful our fishing business will improve through this new market of supplying the lobster to international countries.”