Fishermen urged to stop illegal fishing during fish ban

Mongu District Commissioner Morgan Akabeswa has implored fishermen in Western Province to stop engaging themselves in illegal fishing during the fish ban.

Mr Akabeswa says the fish ban period imposed on natural water bodies annually by the government is vital for sustainable fish breeding adding that anyone who would be found fishing during this period should be punished.

The media reports that the District Commissioner was speaking during the world fisheries day held at Mulamba Harbor in Mongu District.

Mr Akabeswa noted that world fisheries day strengthens understanding among fish mongers the fundamentals surrounding the conserving of fish population in the natural water bodies.

He has bemoaned the increased indiscriminate use of illegal fish gears in recent years such as mono filaments and safa safa and mosquito nets which have seen reduced fish population in the Zambezi river.

Mr Akabeswa disclosed that the government remained committed to improving fish industries seen with increased fish production from 178,000 metric tons of fish in 2023 to 197,000 metric tons of fish in 2024.

He said Zambia has made significant strides in improving fish production and has become one of the largest fish exporters in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.

The District Commissioner has highlighted some of the fish projects being implemented in Western Province such as aquaculture and the introduction of cage fish farming saying so far 26 fish cages have already been set up on the Zambezi river in Senanga District.

He noted that the fish cage has some modern hatchery facilities with the capacity of producing about one million fingerings.

Earlier, Barotse Royal Establishment (BRE) Induna Mayunyi said the traditional leaders are key in driving the fish conservation agenda forward as they are custodians of the land.

The Induna has observed that some fishers in Western Province have indulged themselves in catching fish using poisons such as doom that has contributed to the disturbance of the fish ecological system and pollution of water in the Zambezi river.

Induna Mayunyi has since advised fishermen to desist from engaging themselves in such illicit conducts as that actions can lead to the depopulation of fish in the Zambezi river.

Meanwhile, Mulamba Harbor Chairperson Mubuyaeta Wamundila challenged the fishing community at Mulamba Harbor to take advantage of the mosquito nets being provided to them by the Ministry of Health in order to reduce malaria cases in the area.

“It is saddening to note that some people have continued abusing the mosquito nets they are receiving from the ministry of health, instead of using them for preventing malaria they are busy using them to catch fish”, he said.

The World Fisheries Day has been celebrated under the theme: The fisheries we want and hundreds of people including fishermen and government officials attended the event.