According to a report in the daily newspaper “Noticias”, illegal fishing is mainly carried out by foreign boats entering the bays of Maputo and Sofala.
This year the Mozambican government has made the control of illegal fishing one of its priorities. The authorities plan to carry out at least 297 inspections in the provinces of Maputo, Sofala and Zambezia, as well as 253 patrol missions in the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone. In parallel, there will be 150 hours of surveillance flights over the Sofala bank and the Exclusive Economic Zone.
The Minister of Fisheries, Victor Borges, announced earlier this year the intensification of action to control fishing, including the adoption of policies to promote the sustainable exploitation, protection and conservation of resources, and the compliance with regulations by licenced operators.
Mozambique spends 70 million meticais (about 2.25 million dollars) each year in the fight against illegal fishing. However, this is considered to be low in comparison with the amount spent by other members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
In an attempt to keep down costs Mozambique has been promoting joint patrols with neighbouring South Africa, Madagascar and the Seychelles.
The illegality can take the form of fishing without a licence or violating quotas. Not only does this result in financial losses for the state, but can result in overfishing leading to ecological threats.
Post published in: Africa News