KAFR EL-SHEIKH - Encroachments on Lake Borolos, the second largest natural lake in Egypt, have always given officials of Kafr el-Sheikh Governorate in the Nile Delta chronic headaches. The 420 kilometre square lake presents a major source of livelihood for an estimated l00,000 fishermen and their families. Fishermen complain that encroachments have so far extended to between l0,000 and l5,000 feddans (acres) where business tycoons and influential men have been able to lay hands on parts of the lake turning them into private fish farms. The poor traditional fishermen, owners of small motor and sailing boats, who seek a modest catch in the lake, have been consequently deprived of a fair fishing chance. Only 10 per cent of them have fish farms Official reports say that encroachments on 3,000 feddans have been removed in the past few months in campaigns sponsored by the Fish Wealth Authority in collaboration with the Water Police. But in the view of small fishermen these campaigns are a waste of money because the removal of illegal farms is more of a superficial formality than a deterrent action. They say that the encroachments are not totally eradicated, which encourages the violators to carry on with their activities once campaigners have turned their backs. The lake is today divided by means of blocks and fishing nets creating private boundaries. Violators are said to have gone as far as setting up huts on islets to protect the areas they have usurped. Fishermen accuse the Fish Wealth Authority of laxity and of ‘squandering' rather than ‘developing' fish wealth. According to Sayed Farahat, a veteran fisherman in the area of Shakhloun, the fish wealth in the lake is in jeopardy owing to illegal fishing. He told Al-Ahrar Arabic newspaper that the lake is suffering a high rate of pollution, which is destroying the fish habitats, although a purification campaign costing LEl00 million was carried out two years ago. However, according to the fishermen, its effect was limited. They noticed that the campaign concentrated on areas in the vicinity of the lake shore resort of Baltim, neglecting other parts that were covered with bamboo and water hyacinth, which clog the lake, and contained pollutants. Small fishermen, such as Gomaa Metwalli, Kamal Ibrahim and Mohamed Hegazi have suggested the establishment of a bridge to separate fish farms from the lake. They call for the need to survey the number of licensed fish farms and the exact area they occupy in a bid to remove encroachments. Fishermen wish that the main entrance to the lake, which used to supply it with water from the Mediterranean, would be cleared from encroachments that are blocking the ingress. A delegation of fishermen has of late submitted a complaint to Kafr el-Sheikh Governor Ahmed Zaki Abdin. In it, they are urging a radical solution to these problems, which are preventing an entire community of fishermen from making a decent living and are at the same time sabotaging one of the country's richest fish wealth sources.
