There is a reason Kenya Marine Center is making strides in the ornamental fish industry and its purely hard work and zero tolerance to unscrupulous fishing methods.
What do I mean by unscrupulous?
It would be sad if the ocean was to become inhabitable to both man and fish. It is why Kenya marine center has taken the initiative to spread wide the importance of hand net fish catching.
Here in Kenya running an export company is no child play. It is a full time commitment and everything is built on expenses. For any profit to reflect in our account real work must be done. “Why are your fishes more costly?” A client once asked this, and it got me thinking, why is cheap so expensive?
There is no way we can ever deliver quality if we lowered our prices to satisfy clients who see no value in quality. There is a lot to be processed behind each shipment. And we take great care to ensure our fish thrive in all the places we ship them out.
Kenya Marine Center is a big company tasked with running operational costs to make ends meet for everyone employed with us including the fishermen and their families. The fishermen have 2- 5 sometimes even more children who are seen as a symbol of social security in Kenya. Children in Kenya are valued for they will grow to take care of their parents and guardians as they age and can no longer be able to fend for themselves.
This and many reasons are why it is not as simple as just heading to the ocean and collecting the fish then sending it out. We must also stick to the code of ethics and adhere to the policies set upon us by the government of Kenya which demands a minimum wage owed to each employee is deserved and rightfully given to each fisherman.
During a bumper season, success lies in commanding a team of up to seven or more brigades each consisting of 10 fishermen deployed in different fishing zones. Let me run the expenses by you of only one team comprising of 10 fishermen for a ten 10 day fishing expedition.
These figures are strictly expenses for running fishing operations shy of packing and quarantine expenses for 10 days.
We have for a long time been battling to convince our clients of the presumption that life is less costly here in Africa, Kenya (a 3rd world developing nation). On the contrary we meet expenses on every level from catching the fish to holding it before releasing it to our esteemed clients.