Join a Beach Management Unit (BMU)
Kenya Fisheries Service / county directors of fisheries · sources read 4 Oct 2026
Apply in writing to the BMU executive committee at your beach. The BMU assembly decides, then the county director of fisheries has 14 days to approve you and give you a membership number. You need it to get a fishing licence for that beach.
- Fee
- We couldn't confirm a fee from the official page. Check it there before you pay.
- How long
- The county director of fisheries decides within 14 days of getting your application from the BMU
- Where
- At the BMU office at your beach (executive committee). Approval comes from the county director of fisheries.
What you need
- A written application to the BMU executive committee
Steps
- Write to the executive committee of the BMU at your beach asking to join. They vet your application.
- The BMU assembly decides on your application at a meeting.
- If the assembly accepts you, the committee sends your application to the county director of fisheries, who adds you to the register and gives you a membership number.
- Once you're a member, apply for your fishing licence through the BMU.
Watch out
- No BMU membership, no fishing licence: the county won't license you for a beach unless you're a member of that beach's BMU.
- You can only belong to one BMU.
- A BMU can turn you away if the beach has reached its limit on licences under its co-management plan. If the county rejects you, you can appeal to the county executive committee.
Who can apply
- People whose income or livelihood depends, directly or indirectly, on fishing at that beach
- Boat owners, crew members, fish traders, foot fishers and others named in the BMU by-laws
- You must be over 18
Official sources (2)
- Fisheries (Beach Management Units) Regulations, 2024 (Legal Notice 55 of 2024) new.kenyalaw.org · read 4 Oct 2026
- Licensing kefs.go.ke · read 4 Oct 2026