Zimbabwe has officially signed the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Regional Fisheries Monitoring, Control, and Surveillance Coordination Centre (MCSCC) Charter. This step is aimed at protecting the kapenta fishing industry at Lake Kariba and other inland water bodies.
With this agreement, Zimbabwe becomes the 13th nation to join efforts in tackling illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, a growing issue in the region. The kapenta fishing industry in Zimbabwe supports thousands of jobs and produces over 20,000 tonnes of fish annually.
However, overfishing and IUU practices are increasingly threatening the long-term viability of the industry. Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Rural Development, Anxious Masuka, highlighted the decline in fish catches in Lake Kariba and other inland dams, as well as the shrinking size of fish being caught.
Motseki Hlatshwayo, Technical Adviser for Fisheries at the SADC Secretariat, noted that IUU fishing costs the region about US$400 million each year, endangering fish stocks, markets, governance, and local livelihoods.
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