On the 21 November 2024, The Republic of Zimbabwe became the thirteenth signatory of the Charter establishing the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Fisheries Monitoring Control and Surveillance Coordination Centre (MCSCC), known as the ‘MCSCC Charter’. Now with 13 of the 16 SADC Member States party to the MCSCC Charter, the work of the MCSCC can continue with even greater energy to realise the vision promoted by the SADC Fisheries Ministers for over two decades through the 2001 SADC Protocol on Fisheries and the 2008 SADC Statement of Commitment to combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.

The Zimbabwe’s Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Rural Development, Dr. Anxious Masuka, expresses the Government’s commitment to addressing the growing challenges of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the region. He also highlighted the pressing issue of overexploitation of fisheries resources, particularly in Lake Kariba. Dr. Anxious Masuka, applauded Zimbabwe for signing the MCSCC Charter. The signing of the Charter by the Honourable Minister demonstrated the commitment by the Government of Zimbabwe, and a clear intention towards strengthening cooperation in stopping IUU fishing in the SADC Region.

The MCSCC Charter came into force following signature by two-thirds of SADC Member States in March 2023, when Botswana became the eleventh signatory of the Charter. Since then, Seychelles and now Zimbabwe have joined the other countries of Angola, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, and Madagascar in their commitment to uniting as a region to fight IUU fishing.

Priority activities of the SADC Member States are to advance the processes linked to the operationalisation of the MCSCC, including the key function of the MCSCC to establish a regional register of fishing vessels operating in the SADC waters, including for the inland countries such as Zimbabwe.