Botswana: Govt Has Failed Fisheries Sector - Expert

A fisheries biologist at the Okavango Research Institute (ORI) in Maun, Keta Mosepele, has advised government to develop a fisheries policy so that the full benefits of the sector are realised. Mosepele said government needs to develop a policy than to depend on outdated regulations to address the current problems in the fisheries sector. "These regulations are set to address the perceived symptoms than to address the real problem in this sector. Therefore, government needs to get to the root cause of the problem. We have to identify the real problem in the sector. What are we managing these resources for and who is benefiting," he said.

He said the decision by the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism to suspend the Fish Protection Regulatory, Statutory Instrument No. 16 of 2016 and to resort to the 2008 regulations shows that government has failed to address concerns in the sector. Mosepele observed that problems in the fisheries industry will persist until government comes up with a solution to deal with the challenges once and for all by developing a national fisheries policy. "Recently government suspended new regulations after an outcry from stakeholders and resorted to the old one, what was guiding government to resort to the old ones?" he asked, accusing government of being blindsided when dealing with fisheries issues.

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