By Fostina Mkandawire
Salima, February 25, Mana: Senga Bay Fisheries Research Station in Salima on Friday received an enforcement engine and a refurbished patrol boat amounting to US$100,000 (approximately K168million) to intensify inspection on Lake Malawi.
Speaking during the handover of the equipment at Senga Bay in Salima, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Climate Change, Dr Yusuf Mkungula, highlighted that intensifying patrolling and inspection on Lake Malawi will restore fish species and deter illegal fishing.
He said, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Restoring Fisheries for Sustainable Livelihoods in Lake Malawi (REFRESH) project, in collaboration with Ministry of Natural Resources and Climate Change, standard operating procedures for the monitoring, controlling and surveillance operations of the fisheries inspectorate were developed.
He, therefore, said the standard operating procedures are meant to be followed without fail as far as conservation of natural systems is concerned and the patrolling boats are a game changer in bringing sanity on the lake.
"The fisheries inspectorate need to have all the necessary equipment and gears if they are to execute their duties effectively; law enforcement needs to be strengthened.
"The items being handed over today are not just material possessions, they represent progress and the promise of a brighter future for Malawi's fisheries. These resources will, undoubtedly, enhance our capacity to promote responsible and sustainable use of our aquatic resources,” he said.
He made an assurance that the Department of Fisheries will use the equipment responsibly so that the fisheries sector should be propelled towards a resilient and self-reliant sector.
REFRESH project also handed over an Electronic Catch Assessment Survey (ECAS) system which signifies migration from the paper based Catch Assessment Survey to the modern system of entering data.
Chief of Party for REFRESH project, Dr Daniel Jamu, underscored the importance of fisheries saying, as the cornerstone of the national economy, a decline in fish supply poses challenges that impact the health and nutrition standards of many Malawians.
He said it was their wish to see that the new technology offers timely and accurate data that will be used by stakeholders.
The new technology allows for faster consolidation of the data unlike the manual system where data would take close to four months to be consolidated and shared.
Lake Malawi fish provides 45 percent of all animal protein consumed and is one of the world’s most biologically diverse lake with more than 1,000 fish species.
