Fish farming will be rationalised as the Government attempts to control overfishing of wild stock to preserve the viability of the industry, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Deputy Minister Davis Marapira said last week.
He said there was serious overfishing in some lakes, hence the need to put measures to deal with illegal fishing by offering licences that correspond with the amount of fish in the country's lakes.
With water levels declining in Lake Kariba after low to below normal rains in the upper Zambezi catchment during the 2023-2024 rains, there are reports of illegal fishing and overfishing in that giant lake. About 500 permits have been issued to fish in Lake Kariba but besides these, there are others who fish without permits.
In an effort to drive forward the agenda for fisheries and aquaculture development, the Second Republic, through the Presidential Community Fisheries Scheme of the Rural Development Programme 8.0, has embarked on promotion of aquaculture in the country. Farmed fish are not subject to limits and quotas but still need to be licensed and regulated.
Zimbabwe is transforming fish farming into a business in a development that is alleviating unemployment challenges and reducing rural to urban migration.
To promote aquaculture in Zimbabwe, the Government is in the process of establishing 35 000 village business units where there will be a borehole, nutrition garden and two fish ponds to serve community nutrition needs.
Speaking at the fisheries and aquaculture meeting in Harare on Thursday, Deputy Minister Marapira said there was need to strictly monitor overfishing to control the challenge.
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By 2026, Zimbabwe should be meeting its own requirements and starting to export fish. By then 60 000 tonnes of fish should also be produced each year, almost doubling the current annual production of 33 000 tonnes.
"The President empowered my ministry to do 35 000 villages business units. We are also going to do fish ponds in those villages to accommodate at least 4 000 to 6 000 fingerlings," said Deputy Minister Marapira.
"This will create employment for rural communities and good nutrition. Permits should be given according to the amounts of fish in our lakes, for example, in Lake Kariba a lot of fishing is done from the Zimbabwean and Zambian sides and we had to issue permits which are about 500 for fishing in Kariba.
"The initiative also ensures a sustainable source of food and livelihoods for future generations by fighting illegal, unreported and unregulated fish farming."
In order to arrest the declining catches, Government has also engaged regional and international partners in monitoring fishing activities in lakes.
This has culminated in the signing of the SADC Charter on establishing the Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Coordination Centre in Maputo, Mozambique.
