1.6m Malawians dependent on fisheries

Malawi Government, through the Department of Fisheries, organised a 12-day training workshop on monitoring, controlling and surveillance (MCS) for fisheries inspectorate officers that attracted participants from all districts lying along Lake Malawi.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the training at the Fisheries Research Unit in Monkey Bay, Mangochi on Thursday, director of fisheries Dr. Steve Donda said fisheries resources are some of the most significant renewable resources that Malawi as a country has.

Said Donda: “Fish contributes to food security, livelihoods and economic growth and recent data shows that the fisheries sector employs about 65 000 fishers and furthermore, the industry supports about 1.6 million people in lakeshore communities whose livelihoods are dependent on fishing.”

He also said the fisheries sector is playing a critical role in contributing to household income and national gross domestic product estimated at four percent, adding that this was the reason government put in place various social and economic development policy instruments that recognise fisheries as important for national development.

According to operations commander at Monkey Bay Fisheries Research Unit, Evance Mataka, who was also a participant at the workshop, the Department of Fisheries has confiscated about 47 illegal gears during the operations.

The workshop was organised by the Government of Malawi in collaboration with Smart Fish with funding from the European Union.