Page 13 - Mozambique Report

Catch (tons) Share of total catch%
Capture 222,101 99.68
Commercial 26,046 11.68
Artisanal 196,055 88.00
Aquaculture 721 0.32 Country Profile

Industrial 201 0.09
Small Scale 514 0.23 The Republic of Mozambique
Total
Source: Mozambique Ministry of Sea, Inland Waters and Fisheries, 2014

Table 2: Mozambique Artisanal Fish Production Total Catch, 2012(tons)

Lobster 159
Crab 1,346
Fish, marine 10,874

Fish inland waters 68,215
Shallow water shrimp 3,020
Shrimp for Shrimp paste 2,241
Cephalopoda 1,671
Shark 653
Other 4,557
By-catch 3,319
Total 96,055

Source: Mozambique Ministry of Sea Inland Waters and Fisheries, 2014

The constraints
Harmful practices and increasing effort of artisanal f?sheries
Artisanal fishing represents 80 per cent of total fish landings, which mainly target near-shore fish
stocks such as pelagic species, demersal line fish and crustaceans such as shrimp and crab and
is carried out along the coastline mainly for subsistence and commercial purposes (Benkenstein,
2013b). Sixty percent of artisanal fishing takes place in maritime waters, in beaches and the open
sea, while the remaining 40% is carried out in inland waters primarily in Niassa and Tete Province
(Jone et al., 2013). Small-scale fisheries, although based on traditional practices, have undergone
significant changes in recent years. The number of fishers has increased significantly and so has the
use of motorised boats, improved fishing gears and more intensive use of these fishing gears. The
most common fishing gears are gill nets (42%), hand lines (23%) and beach seines (18%). Harmful
fishing practices, such as the use of mosquito nets or fine-mesh seine nets, are still common in
certain areas. Despite a lack of concrete data there are indications that catches are decreasing
(Benkenstein, 2013).

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