Fishing production in Mozambique grew by 3% in 2024, to 508,808 tonnes, driven by commercial activity, but missed the target, according to budget execution data.
According to the government report, with the 2024 budget execution, the target for fishing and aquaculture for the whole year was 522,671 tonnes, which was 97% achieved, but still grew compared to 493,088 tonnes in 2023.
At 19,705 tonnes, commercial fishing, namely fish, shrimp and mussels, even exceeded the forecast (114%) for 2024, an increase of 19% in the space of a year, at 22,530 tonnes, while artisanal fishing reached 97% of the target, growing by 3% to 479,304 tonnes.
Aquaculture, on the other hand, fell by 7% to 6,974 tonnes, just 71% of the target for 2024. This activity in Mozambique is carried out on an industrial level and on a small scale, producing, in addition to various types of fish, shrimp, crab and lobster, especially in the provinces of Tete, Gaza and Niassa.
Artisanal fishing continues to represent the bulk of the annual volume in Mozambique and involved almost 400,000 people and more than 42,000 boats, in inland and maritime waters, according to the 2022 census, released last year.
According to the final data from the Artisanal Fishing and Aquaculture Census (CEPAA 2022), the survey covered “all territorial areas of maritime and inland waters”, with the “exception of some areas of Cabo Delgado province, for reasons of insecurity”, extended to the aquaculture sub-sector for the first time.
The survey, which involved the Ministry of the Interior, Inland Waters and Fisheries and the National Institute for the Development of Fisheries and Aquaculture, among other partners, covered 1,600 fishing centres across the country, of which 889 were in inland waters and 711 in maritime waters.
The census identified 397,688 people involved in artisanal fishing, including 110,518 fishermen operating with a boat, 164,439 fishermen working without a boat and 122,731 professionals in other “activities along the artisanal fishing value chain, particularly carpenters and naval mechanics, netters, fish processors and traders”.
The survey also states that 42,723 boats were registered, of which 1,986 were motorised.
“The majority of the boats are dugout canoes (54.4%), which are mostly located in the provinces of Tete and Zambézia, followed by moma canoes (16.4%),” it says.
With regard to aquaculture, the 2022 census registered 21,751 operators, of which 12,899 are owners of aquaculture units, including individuals and associates, with 8,852 workers, 31.8% of whom are women.
Aquaculture activity in the country, according to type, ‘is mostly subsistence’, equivalent to 42.9%, and artisanal, 46.79%, with the remainder, ‘less than 10.1%’, falling into semi-industrial, industrial, experimental, research and training.
CEPAA counted 11,413 aquaculture production units, of which 10,518 were fish tanks.
Lusa
