An assessment of legislative, regulatory and policy gaps in the management of abandoned, lost, and otherwise discarded fishing gear in Lake Victoria, East Africa

Abandoned, Lost, and Otherwise Discarded Fishing Gear (ALDFG) is a major source of plastic pollution in inland fisheries. There is a lack of policies, adequate legislation and regulations to addressing ALDFG in inland fisheries where the challenge remains a neglected and poorly understood issue by fisheries management. We critically assessed policy and legislative gaps in the management of ALDFG in the fisheries of Lake Victoria, shared by the three East African countries of Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania. Using a gap analysis framework, current legislation on fisheries, fisheries, and pollution and waste management was reviewed and analyzed. The assessment reveals opportunities to strengthen the policy and legal and regulatory frameworks in relation to the management of ALDFG. The existing fisheries laws require modernization to effectively address the ALDFG challenge, because of the transboundary nature of the fisheries, the lack of harmonized information and reporting systems, and the open access nature of the fisheries which makes current management regimes inefficient to respond to this emerging environmental problem. It is important to develop policy and improve legislative frameworks, ideally harmonized among the three countries, to support efforts that prevent, mitigate, and address ALDFG. Additionally, efforts to better understand the status and extent of ALDFG through research would provide a strong foundation for informed decision-making and provide a basis for developing and supporting long-term trend analyses to monitor and guide the development of appropriate policies, legislative and regulatory measures which are specific to inland fisheries. • Plastic pollution from ALDFG in Lake Victoria is an emerging challenge • There is no ALDFG legislation in Lake Victoria, East Africa • Current fisheries laws are no robust to combat the ALDFG challenge • Need for more research and collaborations between riparian countries • Need for policy, legal, and regulatory improvements among the three countries