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Commercial over-fishing threatens coastal livelihoods in Mozambique
Artisanal fishing provides a critical source of food and income to thousands of Mozambicans, but the ever-increasing local and international demand for fish, combined with rapidly depleting stocks, is putting increasing strain on this way of life.
Fishermen in Maputo, the Mozambican capital, bring in their catch. (Image: Tomas de Mul/IRIN)
The UN Food and Agriculture Programme (FAO) has estimated that small-scale fishermen, who caught 84,065 tons of fish for the domestic market in 2000, will need to catch 171,040 tons to help meet local demand by 2025.
The pressure is mounting: Mozambique's shallow coastal waters have been over-fished, its population - 40 percent of whom live on less than one US dollar a day - is growing at 2.4 percent annually, and traditional fishing techniques can no longer compete in a globalised fishing world.
