Mozambique: Fish farming pens sabotaged in Balama, Cabo Delgado – AIM report

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Mozambique: Fish farming pens sabotaged in Balama, Cabo Delgado – AIM report

7:36 CAT | 08 Mar 2021

Photo: Noticias

Unknown individuals have vandalised 42 floating fish farming pens at the Chipembe dam in Balama district of the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, according to a report in the Maputo daily “Noticias”.

The Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Fisheries said that an unspecified number of tanks with a 100 litre capacity each, to float the cages, have been stolen by the thieves.

The floating pens, installed in 2020, as part of a nationwide pilot project to promote aquaculture, were stripped of their important parts. The Mozambican state had disbursed 67,000 US dollars to purchase and install them, expecting each pen to yield 810 kilos of fish annually.

The provincial directorate believes that the material had been stolen for domestic use, including the brewing of homemade alcoholic drinks.

However, within the next few weeks, the fisheries sector will carry out a financial assessment to draw an overall picture of the costs, as the ultimate goal is to bring the infrastructure back to life.

When reinstalling the floating tanks safety measures will be taken into account, in order to avoid similar cases of theft.

The National Institute for Aquaculture Development (INAQUA) sees aquaculture as an essential area that can lead to a blossoming of the small and medium infrastructure of the fisheries sector in the country’s water reservoirs.

Source: AIM