Cyclone IDAI: More than 2,000 boats destroyed or swept away in Beira

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Cyclone IDAI: More than 2,000 boats destroyed or swept away in Beira

1:57 CAT | 05 Apr 2019

File photo ( for illustration purposes only): DW

At least 2,037 vessels – artisanal, industrial and semi-industrial – were destroyed or swept along the coast of Beira in central Mozambique by Tropical Cyclone Idai on 14 March.

According to newspaper Noticias, the figure was revealed on Thursday by the Provincial Director of the Sea, Fisheries and Inland Water, Carlos Sendela. He pointed out that the situation affected all subsectors of this area of activity, representing a preliminary loss of 333,500 million meticais (around US$5.2 million).

According to the same projections, 237 artisanal fishing boats were lost, and at least 2,067 artisanal fishermen directly affected, suffering losses in excess of one billion meticais.

Cyclone Idai has also damaged 15 fishing buildings such as offices, warehouses, workshops and production processing rooms.

Sendela revealed that the Beira Fishing Port, whose rehabilitation was completed last year although it had not yet been delivered to the government, suffered more than eight million meticais-worth of damage, including the partial destruction of the porch that protects the engine room, and the roof.

He added that five fish markets in the city, including the conservation components such as refrigerators, freezers and ice-plant machines with solar panels, were affected.

Noticias further reports that 14 fishing sector workers were left homeless, hindering their professional performance in the short and medium term. Two units of fish-seed production [controlled breeding of fish as in a hatchery] and feed were also destroyed in the city of Beira.

In the artisanal mariculture sector, Sendela said that 53 tanks were damaged -of which 41 were fish cages – and 523,500 fish-seed hatcheries were destroyed, to the detriment of 104 fish farmers.

“The damage is very severe, so there is a ministerial mission on the ground that includes consultants from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) for a comprehensive survey, a mission that will last until next week,” he said.

After that, losses would be analysed, perhaps by other World Bank-financed fisheries programmes such as the “More Sustainable Fish”, which aims to leverage fishing, through the financing of artisanal fishing to the tune of 80 percent, and 70 per cent for industrial and semi-industrial fishing.

Source: AIM Moçambique