The government of Mozambique is considering reviewing legislation to curb illegal fishing off the Mozambican coast which is causing loss the public purse.
The Fisheries Ministry says the country is losing an annual amount of US$60 million (MOP480 million) due to illegal fishing.
To address the problems, the government is reviewing the legislation.
Leonilde Chimarizene said that the ideal would be to create maritime courts to try related crimes, in the same way, that there are labour courts.
“The occurrence results from the failure to declare catches, fishing areas and species caught,” said Leonilde Chimarizene, director of operations of the Fisheries Ministry, during a meeting on the sector in Maputo recently.
At the level of the Southern African Development Community, Mozambique participates in joint oversight actions, which is why the country was chosen to establish a regional coordination centre for monitoring, control and surveillance of fisheries in the African sub-region.
The enforcement bodies are reportedly also working on the acquisition of drones to monitor fishing activities in real-time.
Over the past year, more than 200 cases of illegal fishing and fines to offenders reached 270 million meticais (€3.8 million), most of which involved foreign vessels.
Analyzing the year 2019, there is at least a reduction in fishing during the period of prohibition, as a result of strengthened enforcement measures.
Artisan fishing represents 90% of the sector in the country and resorts to practices harmful to the environment, such as the lack of respect for the minimum net size, which even catches the eggs of some species.
