By Conrad Mwanawashe, Kariba
THE Fisheries and Aquaculture Bill represents a solid legal and regulatory framework providing a foundation for harnessing opportunities offered by Zim’s water resources and tapping into the growing global fish and aquaculture products demand, according to the Fisheries and Aquaculture Resources Department Director, Milton Makumbe.
Makumbe was addressing the ongoing Fisheries and Aquaculture Bill Consultations currently underway in Kariba following similar outreaches in Nyanga and Bulawayo.
The Fisheries and Aquaculture Bill is designed to align with key strategic pillars including:
- The Agriculture, Food, and Rural Systems Transformation Strategy;
- The forthcoming Fisheries and Aquaculture Stand-Alone Act, which will introduce regulations for quality assurance; and
- The National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1), particularly in food security and nutrition, where fisheries and aquaculture play a crucial role in providing affordable, high-quality protein and improving household livelihoods.
Zimbabwe is endowed with over 10,000 dams, offering vast potential for fisheries and aquaculture development. Among these, Lake Kariba stands out as the largest transboundary water body in Zimbabwe, and with the largest production from capture fisheries, Lake Kariba has the potential to significantly contribute to food security, economic growth, and improved nutrition.
However, challenges such as a lack of clear regulatory frameworks, limited investment, and high compliance costs have hindered the full realization of this potential.
“This Bill seeks to establish an enabling environment that maximizes the sustainable use of these resources, ensuring that fisheries and aquaculture contribute significantly to the Blue Economy sector of Zimbabwe,” said Makumbe.
Compared to other nations within the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Zimbabwe lags behind in developing its fisheries and aquaculture industry. Establishing a robust regulatory framework is therefore essential for fostering growth in this sector. The existing Parks and Wildlife Act contains legal provisions governing the fisheries sector but primarily focuses on the conservation of aquatic life rather than its utilization for economic and nutritional benefits.
“We acknowledge the challenges that the sector has faced due to fragmented laws from different ministries overseeing fisheries and aquaculture. This has led to regulatory overlaps, inconsistencies, and bureaucratic hurdles that have hindered smooth operations and industry growth. Additionally, the high cost of compliance has placed an undue burden on fish farmers, restricting their ability to expand and invest in sustainable practices.
“This Bill seeks to address these challenges by consolidating all aquaculture and fisheries-related regulations into a single, coherent legal framework. By doing so, we aim to create a more enabling environment that fosters sector growth, reduces unnecessary regulatory costs, and enhances the ease of doing business for fish farmers and investors,” he added.
Some of the stakeholders attending the consultations want the bill to address issues of multiple licensing and called for stiffer penalties to deter poaching of fish.
(More details in the upcoming Maricho Magazine edition)
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), is supporting the development of the legislative framework through the Flagship project FISH4ACP.
The FISH4ACP programme, is an initiative of the organization of African, Caribbean and pacific states (OACPS) to support sustainable fisheries and aquaculture development. It is a value chain (VC) development programme implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) with funding from the European union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for economic cooperation and development (BMZ) adopting a holistic approach to sustainability.
FAO fisheries expert, Paul Mwera, told the gathering that the bill will not only create an enabling environment for the fisheries but will also promote investment in this sector.
“Good laws and functioning legal institutions are essential contributors to the predictability, security and flexibility needed to spur growth in this sector. FAO has been on fore front of promoting legislative policy frameworks that promote inclusive agrifood system production worldwide. We are a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security,” said Mwera.
Annual growth of supply of aquatic animal foods has increased globally faster than annual population growth, boosting global per capita annual consumption from 9.1 kg in 1961 to 20.6 kg in 2021. It varies greatly between countries, and depends on many factors such as availability, accessibility, seasonality, and cultural and individual preferences.
