12 Apr 2017

In order to regulate the movement of fish within and outside the country; the North West District Council is formulating by-laws for the fishing industry.

The Lake Ngami Conservation Trust manager, Mr Galefele Maokeng has revealed this during a stakeholders meeting in Maun saying large amounts of fish were being taken out of the lake through illegal channels.

He noted that illegal fish markets were flourishing in Maun and the formulation of the by-laws would address the problem.

Mr Maokeng stated that the law enforcement agencies have conducted security patrols inside and around the lake to end illegal fishing.

This, he added, was done during the fishing off season in January and February 2017, and the exercise proved so effective that by the time the new season resumed in March 2017, illegal fishing activities were almost unheard of.

He also observed that the Trust spent a lot of resources developing fishing camps for occupation by the licensed fishermen and a market centre in Sehithwa in order to control and regulate the marketing and selling of fish.

The temporarily market centre was initially situated at the show ground and due to the current floods it relocated to the community hall last month.

The trust manager further explained that the market had been doing exceptionally well, noting that in December 2016, a total of P74 013 exchanged hands at the fish market, while in March 2017 the amount rose to P84 483.50 in the one week that the market had operated.

However, Mr Maokeng said recently, dry fish export ban has negatively impacted on the trust operations.

He said the fish market in Sehithwa has shut down while several fishermen have vacated fishing camps and many others have packed their bags and only waiting for the lifting of the ban.

He argued that all the fishing camps had no access to electricity and therefore sun drying was the most accessible form of preservation for them. ENDS