Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives Bradford Machila said it was
important to observe the fish ban because it would be too costly to the
nation if Zambians failed to conserve the fish resource.
Mr Machila who is in charge of Livestock and Fisheries said this in a statement released in Lusaka yesterday.
If we fail to conserve our own fish resources, we will not be able to
rehabilitate the degraded fisheries and lost diversity of fish
species, he said.
Mr Machila said the fish ban was not meant to deprive the fishing
community of their economic livelihood but was meant to promote the
conservation of the fishery resource and strengthen the capacity in
fishery resource management.
He urged the fishing community to engage in other agricultural
activities to boost production as they observe the closure of the fish
season to facilitate the regeneration of the fish stocks.
During this period, fish activities and related activities are
prohibited in the following areas, Kafue River and the flood plain
fishery, super upper Kafue Fishery, upper Zambezi, lower Zambezi from
the dam wall to the Zambezi /Luangwa confluence, Lukanga Swamps,
Bangweulu fishery, both open waters of the lake and the swamps,
Mweru-wa-ntipa, Mweru, Luapula, Lusiwashi and Chambeshi fishery, Mr
Machila said.
He said Lake Tanganika and Lake Kariba fisheries would remain open
during the closed fishing season as the main fishery in the two lakes
was Kapenta which is highly migratory and is shared among countries.
Those fishery areas that are normally open to fishing during the
closed fishing period will ensure that certificates of origin or
conveyance for the fish movements are available to traders,
transporters and the other people carrying such a commodity, Mr
Machila said.
He warned all those found flouting the law of stern action as the
fisheries staff would be working together with the Zambia Police, the
Zambia Wildlife Authority and other law enforcement agencies to monitor
illegal fishing activities.
Mr Machila said check points would be set up and searches for fish carried out.
He said the fish ban does not affect fish farmers whose activities
would go uninterrupted with harvests and sales of their farmed fish.
Farmed fish is legal business and should be sold only in designated
markets to facilitate effective compliance to the fish ban. I implore
our civic leaders in the councils to ensure that all legal fish trade
is conducted in designated markets, he said.
By CHEWE KAMUNGU
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