SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY PRESIDENT UHURU KENYATTA, C.G.

H DURING THE OFFICIAL COMMISSIONING OF THE KENYA MARINE AND FISHERIES RESEARCH INSTITUTES RV MTAFITI VESSEL AT KENYA PORTS AUTHORITY, BERTH 1 ON 28TH JANUARY 201 . Governor Joho, Governor Carl Decaluwe, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, It gives me great pleasure to return to the City of Mombasa, this time for the occasion to commission a vessel critical to the research and conservation of marine life in the Indian Ocean Ladies and Gentlemen, Oceans matter, they cover three!"uarters of the earth#s surface, supply half its o$ygen, and host %&' of its life (specially for )enya, oceans are critical to food security and economic growth *nd, of course, we can all agree with the great poet who reminded us of the sheer beauty of the dar+ broad sea Ladies and Gentlemen, ,e are a significant maritime nation God and geography have blessed us with a rich variety of high!value fish species- tuna, demersals, molluscs, crustaceans and others .hough no complete stoc+ assessment has been carried out, various studies show that this fishery is under!e$ploited .hirty years ago, the /nited 0ation#s 1ood and *griculture Organi2ation told us that we could e$pect a ma$imum sustainable yield of 34&,&&& tons a year from our marine fisheries 5ecent estimates suggest that we might be able to double that yield 6et, despite being the largest and richest fishing ground in the country, our marine fisheries contribute only 4' of the 378,&&& tons produced in the country .hose numbers should give us pause .he shortfall is not entirely our fault *lthough the Marine 1isheries .as+force estimated four years ago that we could reasonably e$pect 39

billion shillings a year from our marine fisheries, we +now that we lose up to 3& billion shillings a year of it to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing :ut it is also true that our local fishermen confine themselves to near!shore coastal waters, for lac+ of deep!sea fishing capacity Our marine e$clusive economic 2one is e$plored mainly by other nations Ladies and Gentlemen, ,e are, as a Government to overcome these and other challenges ,e will e$plore the feasibility of increasing production from )enya#s waters on the Indian Ocean *s you +now, fish, unli+e livestoc+, tend not be seen nor heard .heir management depends heavily on scientific studies and close monitoring of stoc+s and fishing Our lac+ of an offshore research vessel for oceanographic study and stoc+ assessment, has been a ma;or obstacle <imilarly, our monitoring, control and surveillance of these fisheries would be improved by an offshore patrol vessel My Government ta+es this opportunity to than+ the )enya Defence 1orces for its collaboration with my <tate Department of 1isheries in safeguarding our marine resources against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing Ladies and Gentlemen, .o meet these challenges, the Ministry of *griculture, Livestoc+ and 1isheries prioritised offshore research and marine surveillance and control 1irst, my government has availed funds for an offshore patrol vessel, which is already under construction and will soon be at sea <econd, we are now here to commission the 5= Mtafiti It was donated to the )enya Marine 1isheries 5esearch Institute by the 1landers Marine Institute and the 1und for <cientific 5esearch in :elgium .his fine ship is a 4>!metre long oceanographic research vessel ? the largest of its +ind in this part of the Indian Ocean It will underta+e physical, chemical, geological and biological oceanography research besides carrying out fisheries stoc+ assessment@

we will also use it in e$ploratory e$perimental fishing to establish suitable means for the optimal e$ploitation of our marine fisheries I need hardly emphasi2e how important our oceanographic research will be for other government institutions concerned with our deep!sea resources@ but I wish to mention that our research will be useful to private investors who underta+e sea!farming or other ventures in our waters Our neighbours also stand to benefit, for the vessel will be available for ;oint scientific wor+ involving other agencies, whether domestic or foreign It is envisaged that the fees accrued from charter and other services will mitigate the costs of its running Ladies and Gentlemen, :efore I conclude, let me than+ the Ministry of *griculture, Livestoc+ and 1isheries, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of .ransport, the .reasury and the office of the *ttorney General .his vessel would not be here without their close collaboration My Government is also grateful to Mr Carl Decaluwe, Governor of the :elgian Arovince of ,est 1landers, and Aresident of the 1landers Marine <cience Institute, as well as the Government of :elgium, for donating the vessel and ensuring that the )enyan crew were trained and sailed to )enya safely .heir generosity has strengthened a relationship of long standing Ladies and Gentlemen, It is now my pleasure to declare the vessel 5= Mtafiti officially commissioned .han+ you all and God bless you