The Uganda National Fisheries Policy was introduced in 2004 to guide fisheries development. Essentially, the policy was designed to achieve sustainability and ensure economic and social development within fishery communities. However, since its inception, there has been increasing concern over the declining fish stocks and poverty within fishery communities. These lingering problems continue to raise concerns about the implementation of the National Fisheries Policy in Uganda since these are what, among others, the policy is meant to address. Indeed, the Uganda Peoples Defense Forces (UPDF), continue to employ coercion, dominance and authoritarianism in their enforcement of this policy, with marginal and mixed results. In this regard, the inability to tackle these challenges continues to threaten the sustainability of fisheries as a major economic activity upon which entire communities depend. This study addresses these concerns by answering the question: what is the role of empowerment in fisheries policy implementation? The study was qualitative. It utilized 14 interviews and five focus group discussions as its data sources. Findings suggest that “Kantian” power, support, and information can facilitate fisheries policy implementation and should therefore be engaged
