{"id":11445,"date":"2026-08-14T07:05:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T07:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spicemedia.ug\/spicefm\/?p=11445"},"modified":"2026-08-14T08:00:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T08:00:12","slug":"updf-arrests-52-fishermen-over-illegal-fishing-fishing-on-lake-albert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spicemedia.ug\/spicefm\/2026\/08\/14\/updf-arrests-52-fishermen-over-illegal-fishing-fishing-on-lake-albert\/","title":{"rendered":"UPDF Arrests 52 Fishermen Over Illegal Fishing Fishing on Lake Albert"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em>By Flavia Ajok<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Uganda Peoples\u2019 Defence Forces (UPDF) Marine Unit has arrested 52 fishermen on Lake Albert in Buliisa District for allegedly using illegal fishing gear.\u00a0The suspects, arrested on Tuesday night near Wanseko Landing Site in Wanseko Town Council, include 40 Ugandan nationals and 12 Congolese.<\/p>\n<p>The operation was led by Lt Simon Tibaijuka, Commander of the UPDF Marine Battalion in Buliisa, following intelligence that some fishermen had entered the lake with prohibited fishing equipment.\u00a0\u201cWe acted on intelligence-led information and arrested the fishermen. We apprehended 40 Ugandan nationals and 12 Congolese who had crossed into Ugandan waters with illegal fishing gear and were conducting illegal fishing activities,\u201d Tibaijuka said.<\/p>\n<p>He said the suspects were found with undersized boats, fishing nets, monofilament lines and hooks, among other prohibited equipment. All the gear was impounded.\u00a0The suspects were taken to Buliisa Central Police Station, where they are being held pending prosecution.<\/p>\n<p>Tibaijuka said the Congolese nationals would face charges of illegal entry into Uganda and possession of illegal fishing gear, while the Ugandan fishermen would be charged with possession of illegal fishing gear and engaging in illegal fishing activities.\u00a0He said the UPDF Marine Unit had intensified enforcement of the new fishing regulations and warned fishermen to comply with the guidelines.<\/p>\n<p>Under the new regulations, each landing site is limited to 100 licensed fishermen and 30 boats. The rules also prohibit illegal fishing gear, restrict night fishing for silverfish (mukene) using solar-powered lights and require fishermen and fishmongers to obtain licences.\u00a0The regulations further prohibit permanent structures along the shoreline and provide for prosecution, including imprisonment of up to eight months, for people found engaging in prohibited fishing activities.<\/p>\n<p>However, fishermen on Lake Albert have protested the new regulations, arguing that the restrictions have significantly reduced access to the lake and threatened the livelihoods of thousands of families.\u00a0They say fishing is their main source of income and that the cost of licences and compliant fishing equipment is too high for many operators.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Flavia Ajok The Uganda Peoples\u2019 Defence Forces (UPDF) Marine Unit has arrested 52 fishermen on Lake Albert in Buliisa District for allegedly using illegal fishing gear.\u00a0The suspects, arrested on Tuesday night near Wanseko Landing Site in Wanseko Town Council, include 40 Ugandan nationals and 12 Congolese. The operation was led by Lt Simon Tibaijuka, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,11,9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11445","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-bunyoro","7":"category-national","8":"category-news"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spicemedia.ug\/spicefm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spicemedia.ug\/spicefm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spicemedia.ug\/spicefm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spicemedia.ug\/spicefm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spicemedia.ug\/spicefm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11445"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/spicemedia.ug\/spicefm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11447,"href":"https:\/\/spicemedia.ug\/spicefm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11445\/revisions\/11447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spicemedia.ug\/spicefm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spicemedia.ug\/spicefm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spicemedia.ug\/spicefm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}