The department of fisheries and livestock in Mufumbwe district has warned people in the district against fishing activities following government’s decision to extend the ban to 30th April, 2018.
Acting district fisheries and livestock coordinator Japhet Chiyesu told ZANIS in an interview in Mufumbwe that disobeying the ban order will attract a K3,000 fine or three years imprisonment with hard labour in default or both.
Mr Chiyesu has however, commended the public for the positive response given to the department from the time government announced the ban.
He explained said the district has only recorded three cases of fishing since the ban was announced out of which two men have been fined K2,000 each while the one man has been sentenced to 10 months imprisonment with simple labour.
Mr Chiyesu has called on government to increase the number of personnel in the district in order to help realize the expected results from the fishing industry.
He said the two officers under the fisheries department are not enough to handle the illegal fishing activities against hundreds of fisher men and women in the district.
Last week the ministry of fisheries and livestock announced the extension of the fish ban to 30th April, 2018 on account of cholera.
The ban was initially meant to last from 1st December, 2017 to 28th February, 2018.
The government means well to take leave on fishing to allow baby fish to mature , it is good to know how to maintain fish stocks for continuous life of fish in the rives or lakes .
Those caught going against the law must be punished for their own benefit.
Maybe it’s too early to ban fishing as humans need UKU TOBELA, something close to chicken/meat. It’s all good.
Deplete all the fish …until there is nothing to catch. then blame Lungu
Maybe we should go one year without fishing
The reason given isn’t genuine. the only fishing camp to have recorded cholera is Kafue, but why applying a blanket ban? you are consigning innocent people to poverty and increasing on school dropouts since parents and guardians cannot raise money to send children to school. some parents have educated their children all the way to university through fishing.
Everything is politics in this country…
You all know the behavior, attitudes and practices of fishermen in as far cholera outbreak is concerned…
They should do the same ban on baKoswe because Lungu he is cooking even the baby ones.
I think it should have been 30th June. In Malawi 8years the banned 1 for fish to breed in lake Malawi. It worked well why not here
I”ve always felt a kinship with Alaska. Washington shares a lot of history with that state, the gold rush, salmon fishery and canning, the big pipeline. Many of our big employment opportunities have been linked. I never went, but my siblings and many friends came back at the end of summer with their pockets bulging from their hard slog fishing, canning or mending nets for the fleet. LIKE –> 0