MOZAMBIQUE:Traditional fishing methods are not good enough when an impoverished population is battling the odds, writes Bill Corcoran, in Inhambane Province
The irony of the current state of Mozambique's artisan fishing industry is not lost on Lucas Antonio Matibe, a shrimp catcher who has trawled his province's coastline for more than 40 years.
During the country's 17-year civil war, which ended in 1992, Mozambique's waters teemed with marine life, but the ongoing conflict, which restricted trade, put the lucrative international and regional fish markets out of reach.
With the civil war now consigned to history, Mozambique's traditional fishermen can access the previously inaccessible markets. However, according to the elderly Matibe, the country's abundant fish resources, and the chance to make a little money, have begun to disappear.
"We always thought that when the war ended we would be able to sell our extra fish beyond our villages. Compared to my time as a young man, there is much more money to be made from selling fish now, but the fish are no longer here in great numbers.
"I can't explain why they are gone, but each year we catch less and less. I do not know what we would do if the fish disappeared - it is how we feed our families," Matibe said from his coastal village in Inhambane province's Rihane district.
Artisanal fishing is critical to Mozambique's predominantly impoverished population, which grows by 2.4 per cent annually, as it is one of the main sources of protein and employment.
But the country's shallow waters are overfished and a lack of modern equipment and skills has left the estimated 90,000 small-scale fishermen who provide for 50,000 families unable to access deep-water species. According to Mozambique's 2002 fishing census, only 3 per cent of the 24,000 boats use engines.
The scale of the problem came to light in 2006 when a UN report by the South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Commission claimed that only 25 per cent of the fish stocks in the region were under-exploited and that in coastal areas most species were considered fully or overexploited.
While a lack of marine management and an ever increasing number of fishermen - both artisanal and commercial - in the industry is partly responsible, experts also blame widespread illegal fishing by western fleets.
According to a recent report by the South African-based think tank, the Institute of Security Studies, poaching and overfishing off southern and eastern Africa has become so extreme in recent years that permanent damage to the marine environment appears imminent.
Following the exploitation by European, Russian and Asian fishing fleets of west Africa's fish stocks in the second half of the 20th century, the industry has set its sights on harvesting the continent's southern and eastern waters, says The Crisis of Marine Plunder in Africa, published last November. The report's author, Andre Standing, cited figures provided by the British Marine Resources Assessment Group which conservatively estimated that illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in Africa was a US$1 billion a year industry.
"It was estimated that in Somalia, the total annual value of illegal fishing in only the tuna and shrimp industries amounted to $94 million (€63.8 million). In Angola illegal fishing was measured in the sardine and mackerel fisheries to be roughly $49 million (€33.2 million) annually, which equates to 21 per cent of the total value of Angolan fish exports.
"In Mozambique, illegal fishing in the tuna and shrimp industry was set at approximately $38 million (€25.8 million)," it stated.
As a follow on action from the High Seas Task Force, an initiative established in 2003 by governments and NGOs to combat illegal fishing, last year the UK government committed to supporting an African policy to tackle illegal fishing in Angola, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa. To counter the problem, extensive surveillance of foreign fishing fleets along with annual stock counts is required, but Mozambique is poorly equipped to carry out either activity.
The navy is small and despite the recent donation of five vessels and equipment for maritime inspection by the US and South Africa, it has struggled to effectively patrol its 2,700km coastline; and establishing a scientific stock-taking process has only just begun.
In an effort to support traditional fishermen such as Matibe, who struggle to compete in the modern fishing environment, the government has launched a $54 million programme through its National Institute for the Development of Small Scale Fishing. At the launch of the programme last October institute director Simiao Lopes said the idea was to give small-scale fishermen access to credit. This would allow the sector to grow by about 30 per cent and ensure better insertion in both the domestic and the regional markets.
"With improved conditions, support infrastructures and complementary services, small-scale operators will be able to diversify their catch and improve its quality," he told local media.
Although Matibe and his colleagues still use traditional fishing techniques and equipment - most boats are wooden and 3-8m long; techniques include the use of hand lines, beach seines and gill nets - he says many would be willing to embrace change.
"We are proud of our tradition, but we need help. There are too many fishermen now because there are no jobs, so only those who can compete will survive . . . I have heard of this new programme and I am interested in what it is offering."
However, some of Matibe's fellow fishermen might never get the chance to move on from their age-old fishing techniques. While the Mozambican government and local donors have provided half the $54 million (€36.7 million) budget to date, and the Italian government has donated a $5 million, they are reliant on international donors for remaining $22 million (€15 million). This has yet to be secured, leaving artisanal fishermen along the country's southern coastline high and dry.