Recently African ministers and international donors developed US$1.1bn strategy to boost catches, build fish farms and develop the seafood sector in Africa.

A dangerous trend has seen the continent's per capita fish supply fall more than 12% in the past decade.

Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo, the chairperson of the African Union, was quoted as saying, "If Africa's per capita consumption of fish is just to be kept at its present level, though grossly low and unacceptable, then fish production must be increased by over 250% by 2015."

Over the past 10 years Africa's per capita supply of fish has dropped from 8.8kg in 1990 to about 7.8kg in 2001.

Fish forms as least half of the animal protein in the diets of many Africans, a level second only to Asia.

The situation is aggravated by an increase in fish exports to Europe and the Middle East. These wealthy economies, after having devastated their own fishing industries (Europe) or never having had one (the Middle East) are pricing out fish from the communities that catch them.

As for the Asian connection Communist China just hosted Kenyan President Daniel Moi who came away, it is said, with a secret package of economic goodies the Communist Chinese showered on him.

Amongst these were certainly funds to rebuilt the colonial rail lines to move oil products out of southern Sudan as well as fishing rights in Kenyan waters. The short term benefits to Moi’s government may lead to starvation and ruin for the Kenyan fishing industry.