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Protecting our inland fisheries – a priority for the MCSCC
On 17-21 February 2025, MCS officers from Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe gathered in Lilongwe, Malawi, for a training dedicated to MCS in inland fisheries, organised through the SADC Fisheries Monitoring Control and Surveillance Coordination Centre (MCSCC). This was the first training organised by the MCSCC with a focus on inland fisheries, a sector that is often overlooked despite its strong contribution in terms of fish production and its benefits for the region and the SADC population. Yet, inland fisheries face challenges that threaten their sustainability, exacerbated by insufficient or ineffective monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) activities in many SADC countries. This training aligns with the objective of the MCSCC to enhance MCS capacity in the region in both inland and marine fisheries, towards the protection of all our fisheries.
Inland fisheries in the SADC are estimated to account for at least 40 percent of the region’s total fisheries catch, a figure that is likely to be much higher as the informal nature of small-scale fisheries makes data collection difficult. Over one million people in the region depend on them, in terms of food security and nutrition, employment, livelihood and economic revenues for the States. Most of the fish is either eaten in the country where it is caught or exported to neighbouring countries, therefore contributing to regional trade and enhanced SADC’s self-sufficiency.
Despite this, regional and global focus of MCS activities has largely been on marine fisheries, recognised Dr. Hastings Zidana, Director of Malawi’s Department of Fisheries. Yet, Malawi, like its neighbours, is also impacted by illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing practices, which are threatening the sector. “The Government of Malawi is committed to combatting IUU fishing but serious gaps to address the issue remain”, he said. This first training of the MCSCC focused on MCS in inland fisheries addresses a real need.
“The MCSCC was set up to protect both marine and inland fisheries” recalled Dr. Alexander Shula Kefi, SADC Secretariat representative. A first step towards fulfilling this mandate is to understand the IUU fishing issues and MCS challenges in the countries, and how regional cooperation can help overcome them. Bringing together MCS officers from the region has showed all countries share similar challenges with regards to IUU fishing, an opportunity for lessons learning and for identifying joint solutions at the regional level. The biggest issue reported: the use of mono-filament nets, a gear that is prohibited yet widespread around all countries’ fishing grounds. Cooperation on those issues is essential as many of those countries share large waterbodies, including Lake Malawi (Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania), Lake Kariba (Zambia, Zimbabwe) and Lake Tanganyika (DRC, Tanzania, Zambia, as well as Burundi). Overall, over 70 percent of the region’s freshwater resources are shared between more than one country, including twelve major transboundary river basins.
How the MCSCC can support State Parties in improving cooperation to combat IUU fishing, and what capacities need to be strengthened, this is what the MCSCC wanted to understand through this workshop. One first step: the inclusion of national MCS officers in charge of inland fisheries onto the MCSCC communication platform, a tool allowing MCS officers to exchange information on fishing activities, facilitating cross-border MCS cooperation. This first window opened by the MCSCC has initiated an exchange amongst the countries, enabling sharing of innovative solutions and generating initial ideas on regional actions to address common threats such as the trade and use of mono-filament nets.
Putting emphasis on the need to protect inland fisheries is crucial to raise awareness on the importance to ensure adequate means to perform MCS activities. Human and infrastructural MCS capacities in inland fisheries are often insufficient, another challenge that the countries of the region have in common. MCS officers have a role to play to sensitise their decision-makers, and to outline the needs for effective MCS. To support this, the participants were introduced to a tool to help MCS officers in strategic planning of MCS operations, based on a risk assessment process. This methodology is based on several steps, starting with the objective to acquire an in-depth view of IUU-related fishing risks, as well as identifying concrete and feasible solutions to address them.
Going forward, the MCSCC will continue providing national and regional support to build MCS capacity in inland fisheries, based on the needs expressed during the training. The objective: ensuring that inland fisheries are reflected in the priorities of national and regional MCS strategies, in line with the 2001 SADC Protocol on Fisheries.