The bilateral fisheries patrol was co-ordinated by the Southern African Development Community’s Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) Program.
The Program - which is based in Windhoek and funded by SADC and the European Union (EU) - is helping Namibia, Angola, South Africa, Mozambique and Tanzania to improve the management of marine resources by providing training and technical assistance to the government agencies that monitor and control fishing activity.
Its ultimate goal is to tackle illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing in southern Africa.
The flagship in South Africa’s fleet of four fishery patrol vessels, Sarah Baartman, recently completed a month-long patrol in the waters of South Africa, Mozambique and Tanzania.
During this period, over 50 fishing boats were boarded and inspected by a team of South African, Mozambican and Tanzanian inspectors.
Off Tanzania, the licenses of several foreign tuna vessels were scrutinized and the boats were inspected to see that they complied with fisheries regulations.
Off Mozambique, most of the vessels were fishing for prawns; one was fined for fishing in a prohibited area and another two boats were fined for infringing fishing regulations.
According to Carlos Palin, Program Manager of the SADC Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Program, one of the most positive outcomes of the joint fisheries patrols is that inspectors from the five SADC countries learn to work together and thereby lay the groundwork for future co-operation in monitoring, control and surveillance activities.
â€The patrols have also provided an important platform for training fisheries inspectors in boarding procedures and other aspects of inspecting fishing vessels at seaâ€, says Palin.
â€They provide a united, harmonized and co-ordinated front against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.â€