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(CTX) Illegal Fishermen Plunder Liambezi


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Illegal Fishermen Plunder Liambezi
2014-01-30 14:12:45.475 GMT


By George Sanzila
Jan. 30, 2014 (All Africa Global Media) -- Inhabitants of
the Zambezi Region have once again raised concern over
overfishing and the illegal fishing methods being used by
foreigners.

There are serious and widespread concerns that the
uncontrolled plunder of fish on the Namibian side of the Zambezi
and in Lake Liambezi in particular by hordes of foreign
fishermen could deplete the fishery resource. Inhabitants of the
region complain that foreign fishermen have crowded Lake
Liambezi, 68 kilometres east of Katima Mulilo, and that they
have even found new fishing grounds to continue their
unscrupulous activities at places such as Liashulu, Lusu and
Zilitene although their numbers in those areas are said to be
negligible. Information revealed to New Era also indicates that
locals are offered thousands of dollars to conceal the illicit,
but highly lucrative operations. Foreign fishermen are further
said to be selling their catches directly to locals at
exorbitant prices.

According to statistics provided to New Era
by the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, between 300
to 400 illegal foreign fishermen were deported last year during
joint operations with law enforcement agencies, but the problem
of illegal fishing persists. Given the gravity of the problem
some people fear that the fish resources available, particularly
in Lake Liambezi may soon become depleted as has been the case
on some lakes and rivers in Africa. Dorothy Kabula, a former
councillor of the Linyanti constituency who travelled to Lake
Liambezi last week in search of fish said she was shocked to
discover that many foreign fishermen inhabit the inland lake to
plunder the country's resources without any action being taken
by immigration officials.

"There's a very big loophole at Lake
Liambezi. Most people I found there are non-Namibians. They have
big containers filled up with freshwater fish that they sell
directly to the locals. How can foreign people just come from
their country and start fishing in our rivers? Because of this
loophole, many foreign nationals are coming in every day. I
bought fish last week. Money that these people generate goes
directly to their own country at the expense of unemployed
locals," Kabula complained bitterly.

According to her, markets such as Kasumbalesa, a border
town located between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and
Zambia where demand for Namibian fish is said to be very high,
is fuelling the exploitation of fish resources by foreign
fishermen from those countries who enter Namibia under the
pretext of visiting only to engage in the illegal plunder of
freshwater fish.

She said existing laws are not enforced by the
authorities or they are too lenient resulting in the current
predicament. "Our fish here goes to Kasumbalesa. That's where
the money is. It would be better if they at least buy fish from
us. At the end of the day Lake Liambezi will have no fish. Our
authorities are only bothering our local people here demanding
fish permits, but do nothing to illegal foreign fishermen. It's
very painful. We are promoting poverty among our people," she
charged.

However, Damian Nchindo, senior fisheries biologist in the
Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources who did not rule out
the possibility of foreign fishermen at Lake Liambezi and
elsewhere said even though the ministry conducts regular
monitoring of rivers, his office has not received any such
concerns from the public and that a follow-up will be made very
soon to ascertain the validity of the claims. "We have not
received that information. We do monitoring all the time
checking particularly for fishing permits and nets used. We have
this problem of locals harbouring foreign fishermen and
sometimes it's very difficult for us to find these people. We
will make follow-ups very soon," promised Nchindo. According to
him even though operations have been conducted before to root
out out illegal foreign fishermen, stakeholder involvement and
teamwork is imperative for the success of such operations.
"Stakeholder involvement and cooperation is important. Like with
us, we just monitor if these people have fishing permits.
Immigration also does their part by arresting culprits according
to the immigration laws or charge them.

Most of the time these
people are just deported and end up coming back again and again,
because they are not given any penalties," stressed Nchindo. He
further said, the Ministry of Fisheries has gone to the extent
of forming fishing committees in areas adjacent to rivers, but
these have been rendered toothless because they lack legal
powers. "We have fishing committees that help us to monitor and
report any unscrupulous fishing activities, but these committees
lack power. Some of the fishing committees particularly those in
conservancy areas are making an effort. Maybe if we legalise
these committees it would help," stressed the fisheries
official.

As part of its sensitisation efforts, the fisheries
ministry also plans on inviting their Zambian counterparts since
the majority of illegal foreign fishermen are suspected to come
from that country, according to Nchindo. "We plan on inviting
Zambian fisheries officials to accompany us to the lake to see
how our resources are being plundered by their nationals," he
said.

Katima Rural constituency councillor Warden Simushi said he
has made illegal fishing one of his priorities this year, adding
that he would leave no stone unturned and that the law will not
be discriminatory, since locals are said to be involved in the
harbouring of illegal foreign fishermen. "I have heard of locals
harbouring foreigners particularly at Muyako. I am busy making
arrangements to root out that problem. I even heard that
foreigners come with large sums of money that they pay to locals
for them to conceal their activities and to be allocated fishing
areas on the island. We must also charge and fine people who are
harbouring foreigners. That is what we are going to do to flush
out these illegal activities," warned Simushi. According to
Simushi fishing committees seem not to work, because of pressure
from the communities themselves. "Fishing committees were
elected by the community. The same community is now giving
pressure to these committees and they are no longer performing
their duties as they should," he said. Zambezi Police Regional
Police Commander, Commissioner Bollen Sankwasa, who is also
unhappy about the alleged plunder, bemoaned the lack of
cooperation between stakeholders saying it is the main
impediment to the success of joint operations. "We lack
cooperation or if it's there it should be revisited. Our main
focus as the police is just to enforce the law, the rest is up
to the other parties to do. Acts are there.

But if they don't
give penalties to the culprits, this problem will be repetitive.
We already had three operations last year. Again our own people
are the ones hiding these foreigners. These days they even
announce on radio that they want fishermen. People from DRC or
Zambia cannot know where Lake Liambezi is. It is our own people
who bring them. We must know this resource is not for one
person, it's for the entire country," he said. Lake Liambezi,
which is fed from the Zambezi River and known for its abundant
fish resources, is often a hotbed for illegal fishing. Many
joint police and fisheries operations against illegal fishing
activities at the lake have been conducted in the past, but the
problem refuses to go away. Towards the end of last year in one
such operations, nine foreign nationals, two Angolans and seven
Zambians were arrested at Lake Liambezi in a joint operation
that also targeted poachers.

What makes foreign fishermen elude
authorities easily is the number of small islands that are
dotted all over the lake making them hard to detect, except by
helicopter patrols. Culprits often erect makeshift shelters and
camp on the islands for days.

The Zambezi region is popular for its freshwater fish,
particularly Tilapia but prices at the local market have also
soared of late with some residents attributing the increase to
foreign fishermen who are said to be selling fish at much higher
prices. Fish is the best and most readily available nutritional
option for the majority of people in the region who cannot
afford the exorbitant price of beef. Many people in the region
also eke out a living from catching and selling fish.

Copyright New Era. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media