A Chinese fishing boat has been seized in
The catch was uncovered when the ship, the “Da Yuan Yu 309â€, which was already on its return journey to
The Mozambican authorities suspect that the amount of fish this boat took illegally from Mozambican waters is much larger than four tonnes. There are indications that much of the catch was transferred to another vessel on the high seas.
No exact estimate has yet been made of the value of the fish seized; the only thing known being that it is worth “many thousands of US dollarsâ€.
The crew of the seized ship consists of 35 Chinese nationals. They tried, before entering
A technical team of the Mozambican Fisheries Ministry, the Confederation of Business Associations (CTA), and the “Olhando o Horizonte†(Watching the Horizon) project that helps monitor the movement of boats in Mozambican waters, told a press conference on Wednesday that there are constantly between 100 and 120 pirate boats illegally fishing in the country’s waters. Most of these boats are Chinese.
They noted that these illegal activities may seriously prejudice the country's fishing and tourism industries within the next five to 10 years, since they are destroying protected species.
The white shark, the hammerhead shark, and marine turtles are among those endangered by these illegal practices, which included the use of nets that stretch for up to 20 kilometers behind the criminals’ vessels.
“We know that this type of fishing is destroying our country’s marine riches. And one of the biggest tourist, ecological and economic resources of our country is in the sea and in the species that these pirates exploit, disregarding every rule. If we just sit idly by watching this situation we will have nothing in our sea within the next few yearsâ€, said a spokesman for the joint team.