The Mozambican’s Deputy Minister of Fisheries Gabriel Muthisse has told reporters that the research done by the National Fisheries Research Institute have found out that prawn catches are declining and reaching unsustainable levels.

The declining fish stocks have prompted the government of Mozambique to take action to restrict fishing for surface water prawns.

The Government says it was concerned about the declining levels of prawn stocks in the Mozambican waters, and urged fishermen to be as careful as possible. The Deputy Minister said Mozambique’s catches were around 12,000 tons a year, out of which about 8,000 tons were harvested by industrial and semi-industrial fishing vessels.

Namibian president Hifekepunye Pohamba, who visited Mozambique recently, granted Namibian fishing companies a fishing quota of 35,930 tons of
various species - including prawns.

Mozambique and Namibia are the two countries in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) which greatly depend on fishing for foreign exchange earnings. Fishing provides about 10% of each country's GDP.

It is believed the granting of fishing quota to Namibia by Mozambique will enable Namibian companies to fish in deep water whilst at the same time creating jobs for Mozambicans.

Raphael Mweninguwe