Mozambique: Fishing catch, aquaculture production total up 9% last year

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Mozambique: Fishing catch, aquaculture production total up 9% last year

8:08 CAT | 06 Mar 2024

Image: RTP Africa

Mozambique’s fishing catch and aquaculture production last year totalled 496,373 tonnes, up 9% on 2022 and above the targets set by the authorities, according to a budget execution report from January to December.

According to the document from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, which Lusa had access to on Monday, this performance was above the 474,576 tonnes forecast in the fisheries sector plan and also compares with the actual production of 455,544 tonnes in 2022.

Artisanal fishing led the way last year, with 466,491 tonnes, up 7.8%, followed by commercial fishing (industrial and semi-industrial), with 20,230 tonnes, up 16.4%, while aquaculture production swelled 73.1% to 9,553 tonnes.

In commercial fishing, shrimp was the largest catch last year, with 3,041 tonnes, up 18.7% from 2022.

Aquaculture in Mozambique, meanwhile, is carried out on an industrial level but on a small scale – producing, in addition to various types of fish, also shrimp, crab and lobster, especially in the provinces of Tete, Gaza and Maputo.

Despite this performance, the document recalls, production in 2023 was affected by “excessive rains that caused flooding” in Maputo, as well as the passage of Cyclone Freddy, first in the south, particularly in the province of Inhambane, and then in the centre and north of the country, with greater incidence in Zambezia province.

These natural phenomena led to the destruction of 708 artisanal fishing boats, 3,446 lots of fishing gear, 422 aquaculture tanks, 137 aquaculture cages and 210,050 fish fry (young, small fish).

Source: Lusa