NAMBIA – A total of 59 new fishing rights will be granted for various fish species with a total of 156 companies set to benefit from these rights. The Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Bernard Esau, announced the new fishing rights to harvest marine resources last week in Windhoek.

According to the New Era, no single company or applicant will be granted an individual right mostly in the main commercial species like hake, horse-mackerel, large pelagic and monk.

Read the full article HERE

The government has intensified operations to end illegal fishing on major fresh water lakes in western region where thousands of tonnes of immature fish and illegal fishing gear have been destroyed.

The number of people arrested and prosecuted on suspicion of taking part in the illegal activity has eclipsed 100 since the beginning of the year, the police said yesterday.

Read the full article HERE

Rome — Aquaculture is the world’s fastest-growing source of animal protein and currently provides nearly half of all fish consumed globally, according to a report published here by FAO. The report World Aquaculture 2010 found that global production of fish from aquaculture grew more than 60 percent between 2000 and 2008, from 32.4 million tonnes to 52.5 million tonnes.

It also forecasts that by 2012 more than 50 percent of the world’s food fish consumption will come from aquaculture.

“With stagnating global capture fishery production and an increasing population, aquaculture is perceived as having the greatest potential to produce more fish in the future to meet the growing demand for safe and quality aquatic food,” the report said.

Read the full article HERE

Dar es Salaam — Tanzania expects to earn $200 million annually from tuna fish following a fishing agreement last week in Dar es Salaam with a Japanese fishing association.

Tanzania signed a one year deep sea fishing agreement with the Japan Tuna Co-operative Association and Deep Sea Fishing Authority of Tanzania. The national income will be a bonus to Tanzania, which has been losing millions of dollars to pirate trawlers that catch tuna in the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Read the full article HERE

The government expects to create thousands of new jobs and generate income for small scale entrepreneurs through fish farming.

In this year’s budget allocation, Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta seeks to construct hundreds of fish ponds and fish processing facilities under the Fish Farming Productivity Programme in a bid to promote food security, create jobs and wealth.

In last year’s budget, the Fisheries department received Sh1.12 billion that was meant to fund the construction and stocking of 28,000 fish ponds countrywide. Construction of most of the ponds has been completed, with some entrepreneurs having already harvested the first batch.

The second phase of the project was allocated close to Sh3 billion in this year’s budget, most of which will be used to develop supporting infrastructure that will reduce post harvest losses such as refrigeration and processing facilities, and the provision of core resources like production of fish feeds, transport and marketing.

Read the full article HERE