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Mozambique: Illegal Shark Fishing in Inhambane
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Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
10 October 2007
Posted to the web 10 October 2007
Maputo
Shark populations are at risk from illegal fishing in the Pomene reserve, in the southern Mozambican province of Inhambane, reports Wednesday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias".
This activity is almost exclusively to extract the shark fins, that are then dried and sold, mainly to the Asian market. The rest of the fish meat does not have much market value, but the fins are used to prepare a soup regarded as a delicacy in countries such as China and Japan.
Two NGOs, the Association of Friends of Inhaca Island (ANAII), and "Eyes on the Horizon" (EOTH), say that this illegal fishing is mainly concentrated in Pomene, but they believe that it is probably common in other parts of the Inhambane coast, notably off the coasts of Morrumbene and Inhassoro districts.
These associations cite local fishermen as saying that more than 20 sharks are caught every day, and the associations urge the relevant authorities to act vigorously to check this depredation.
The international hunt for sharks is now threatening some species with extinction - particularly since sharks have long gestation periods and a low reproduction rate.
One kilogram of shark fin is sold in Mozambique for between 6,000 and 7,000 meticais (240 to 280 US dollars), but in the Asian market, for instance in Hong Kong, the same amount may fetch as much as 1,000 US dollars.
According to "Noticias", Chinese citizens are the main buyers of shark fins from local people in the district of Vilankulo, also in Inhambane. The fins are then illegally exported to Asia.
Clearly, without the Chinese buyers Vilankulo fishermen would not bother to fish for sharks.
Illegal shark fishing is not a new phenomenon. Local communities in Pomene had managed to expel illegal fishermen in 2003, but some Mozambicans resumed this activity the following year, without consulting with the community leaders, and were expelled again. But then came the Chinese, seeking to buy shark fins.
Antonio Mandlate, the administrator of Massinga district, where Pomene is located, admitted that the illegal fishing may be happening, but claimed he had never received any reports about it. He said that he overflew Pomene last week and met with local leaders, but nobody raised the issue of illegal shark fishing.
But the slaughter of sharks for their fins is not something invented by journalists or environmentalists - ANAII has been able to photograph Mozambican fishermen in Pomene casually stripping a dead shark of its fins, and "Noticias" publishes one such photograph.
A multi-sector team, including technicians from the areas of tourism, fisheries, the navy, the Interior Ministry, and others, should have visited Pomene last week, but the visit was cancelled because some of the key guests failed to show up or to justify their absence
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The Pomene reserve, established in 1964, is the smallest in the country, covering 200 square kilometres.
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| Copyright © 2007 Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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