Mozambique Fisheries Minister Cadmiel Muthemba. (Photo: MARM)

Norway and Iceland pledge fisheries cooperation aid

MOZAMBIQUE
Monday, November 16, 2009, 21:40 (GMT + 9)

The governments of Mozambique, Norway and Iceland are set to renew their cooperation in fisheries for the period 2009-13, in a bid to improve and make sustainable the exploitation of Mozambican fisheries.

The programme of fisheries assistance for the next four years will be co-financed by Norway and Iceland in the amount of USD 27.7 million in grants, under new bilateral agreements and a tripartite memorandum of understanding, All Africa reports.

The funds will be used to strengthen the capacity and skills of the fisheries administration in the areas of research, fisheries management, aquaculture, artisanal fishing, quality control and training. It will also finance measures to improve the living conditions of fishing communities, and small and medium-sized business activities.

Mozambique Fisheries Minister Cadmiel Muthemba reiterated the undertaking of the Mozambican government to observe the principles that will guide trilateral cooperation, particularly the sense of responsibility in managing the resources that the two Scandinavian partners are making available, to implement the goals advanced in the programme.
 
Muthemba described Norway and Iceland as "strategic partners in developing the fisheries sector." It was thanks to their support, he said, that Mozambique "has laid the technical and scientific bases necessary for the sustainable management of fishery resources and to keep our fisheries produce on the international markets".

The Minister estimated average annual production to consist of 130,000 tonnes of fish. Most of this is consumed locally, but 10,000 tonnes of high value produce -- notably prawns -- is exported, earning the country about USD 55 million.

Muthemba said that the contribution of the fisheries sector is 3 per cent of gross national product; it employs 150,000 people in fishing and aquaculture, and in the processing and marketing of seafood products.

By Denise Recalde
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com

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