Find Fisheries expertise in Mozambique

Agriculture, forestry and fisheries contribute about 27% of Mozambique’s GDP (2007). Mozambique is endowed with fairly rich fishery resources, both marine and freshwater. The marine waters cover an area of about 100,000 km2 with an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of 200 nautical miles. Inland waters cover an area of about 13 000 km2. Estimated employment from fisheries was 90,000 in 2005, nearly three quarters of whom were engaged in the marine sub-sector.

The Mozambican fishing sector can be divided into marine capture fisheries, inland capture fisheries and the freshwater aquaculture sector.

Marine fisheries account for more than 90% of Mozambique’s total fish production. The vast majority (80%) of marine fishers are artisanal; individuals or small groups of fishermen who fish largely for subsistence purposes and domestic consumption. The rest of marine fisheries are industrial fisheries which are joint ventures between the government and foreign companies from Japan and Spain. This sector has the majority of the Total Allowable Catches (TAC) and is dominated by two major commercial companies, namely Pescamar and Efripel. The catch is aimed largely for export to Japan and the European Union.

The catch profile for marine fisheries comprises crustaceans (prawns, deep water shrimp, crayfish, lobsters and crabs), marine finfish (snapper, emperor and sea bream, tuna species, swordfish and shark), as well as cephalopods and molluscs (squid, octopus, sea cucumbers, bivalves).

Inland fisheries on the other hand are concentrated around the major water bodies such as Lake Niassa/Malawi, the third largest in Africa and third deepest worldwide, the manmade Cahora Bassa Lake and a great number of rivers. Lake Cahora Bassa and the Mozambican part of Lake Malawi provide fishing-related livelihoods to about 20,000 people. A total of about 10,000 tonnes of small pelagics are caught, processed and marketed from Lake Cahora Bassa each year, of which 4,000 tonnes is caught by artisanal and small-scale fishers. The catch profile of inland fisheries are dominated by small pelagics such as kapenta, tilapia and carps.

Freshwater aquaculture is dominated by the farming of native cyclids and tilapia but otherwise the popular species farmed in Mozambique include Oreochromis niloticus, African catfish, freshwater shrimp and carp.

The government strategy for fisheries management consists of ensuring the preservation of the fishery resources while maximizing economic benefit for the country as a result of their use. Mozambique signed a deal in 2012 which licensed fishing opportunities to 75 EU vessels, which puts more emphasis on sustainable fishing and controls and obliges EU vessel owners to employ local seamen. 

Fisheries organisations in Mozambique
Fishing Blue Pesca Ltd
Ministry of Fisheries
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