Fisheries Management and Development Act, 2016 (No. 35 of 2016).

This Act provides with respect to a wide range of matters concerning the fisheries sector including fisheries management and conservation, aquaculture and fish processing and marketing. It establishes the Kenya Fisheries Advisory Council (“Council”), The Kenya Fisheries Service (“Service”), The Fish Marketing Authority (“Authority”), the Fisheries Research and Development Fund and the Fish Levy Trust Fund. The Act also implements obligations under international law concerning fisheries. The objective of this Act is to protect, manage, use and develop the aquatic resources in a manner which is consistent with ecologically sustainable development, to uplift the living standards of the fishing communities and to introduce fishing to traditionally non-fishing communities and to enhance food security. Guiding principles of the Act include, among other things, conservation and protection of fisheries habitats, ensuring the effective application of the ecosystem approach to fisheries management and that biodiversity and genetic diversity in the marine environment is maintained and enhanced, encouraging the participation of users of the fisheries resources, and the general community, in the management of fisheries, application of the precautionary approach to the management and development of the fisheries at no less standard than is set out in any international agreement.
The Act consists of 21 sections divided into 20 Parts: Preliminary (I); The Kenya Fisheries Council (II); The Kenya Fisheries Service (III); Financial and Administrative Provisions (IV); Fisheries Conservation, Management and Development (V); Import, Export And Trade and Marketing of Fish and Fish Products (VI); Fish Quality and Safety (VII); Aquaculture (VIII); Information, Data and Records (IX); Licensing and Registration (X); Compliance with Act, Licences, Authorizations and Requirements for Fishing Vessels Entering, Navigating or Exiting the Kenya Fishery Waters (XI); Requirements for Foreign Fishing Vessels or Vessels Fishing under Charter Arrangements (XII); Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (XIII); Requirements for Arrested Persons and Seized Items (XIV); Evidence (XV); Summary Administrative Proceedings (XVI); Jurisdiction, Prosecution, Forfeiture, Liabilities and Other Actions (XVII); Establishment of Fish Marketing Authority (XVIII); Miscellaneous (XIX); Repeals and Transitional (XX).
The Council shall be composed of cabinet Secretaries and fisheries experts. It shall advise the national Government. The Service is established as a body corporates and shall be responsible for the conservation, management and development of Kenya's fisheries resources. There is established within the Service a Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Unit (MCS). The Cabinet Secretary may make regulations control and establishing and assigning functions to an inter-agency unit. monitoring control and surveillance unit. The object of the Fish Levy Trust Fund shall be to fund activities geared towards management, development and capacity building, awards and urgent mitigation to ensure sustainability of the fisheries resource.
The Director-General of the Service (DG) may, in consultation with County governments, other appropriate agencies and other departments of Government, establish fisheries development measures and, in the Gazette, give notice of any international conservation and management measures recognized by Kenya for the purposes of this Act. Contravention of international measures of foreign vessels shall be notified to flag States and RFMO's and the DG may request immediate investigations by the flag State, notify the flag state of the presence of the vessels in a Kenyan port and take additional measures in conformity with international law, including such measures as the flag State of the vessel has expressly requested or to which it has consented and any measures agreed through the relevant regional fisheries management organization. Each County may develop fisheries management measures and plans for fisheries resources within its jurisdiction. Each fisheries management plan developed by each County shall take into consideration, to the extent possible, elements of a fisheries management plan made under this Act for a designated fishery and recommendations of the DG. The Cabinet Secretary responsible for fisheries may, for purposes of ensuring structured community participation in fisheries management, make Regulations regarding the management of beach management units established by county governments. The DG may, with approval of the Cabinet Secretary impose specified measures for the conservation and management of any fishery.
The Cabinet Secretary may establish Marine Protected Areas and may declare any species of fish to be endangered or threatened with extinction and such fish may not be caught or processed. He or she may also establish: (a) fish landing stations, (b) designated fishing ports, and (c) protected fish breeding grounds. Fishing for marine mammals is prohibited. The Act furthermore provides with respect to, among other things: introduction of live fish in Kenya fishery waters, prohibition to pollute Kenyan waters, periodic stock assessment of all the fishery waters, fish quality and safety, an aquaculture development plan, the prohibition to deprive community of traditional access to fisheries, transboundary aquaculture ecosystems, licensing of (semi)industrial fishing vessels, terms and conditions for licence or authorization granted under this Act, compliance with standards relating to work conditions on board fishing vessels, registration of artisanal fishing vessels, recreational fishing, transshipment of fish, deployment of fish aggregating devices, fish processing licences, monitoring, reporting and record keeping, (denial of) port access, inspection for foreign vessels and other measures to combat IUU fishing, vessel monitoring systems, and functions of Fish Marketing Authority.