31 Zambian poachers arrested

operation in which police also recovered eight commercial fishing rigs.
The poachers were nabbed last month during a joint anti-poaching operation between the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and Zimbabwe Republic Police to weed out illegal fishing activities along the river.
The authority’s spokesperson, Ms Caroline Washaya-Moyo confirmed the arrests and said some of the poachers have since appeared in court and have been fined.
She said the commercial rigs belonged to four fishing companies – Jembo Jalata, Mulolo Mass and Manyoni Fishing Co-operatives.
The fishing co-operatives all paid fines of US$4 000 each to redeem fishing rigs.
“The 31 fish poachers of Zambian origin are between the ages of 14 and 27,” Mrs Washaya Moyo said.
She said the authority was facing a number of challenges in its quest to police the water body chief among them being shortages of speed boats. The boats are needed to police the area stretching over 1 000 square kilometres.
Ms Washaya-Moyo said the authority requires at least 2 000 litres of petrol to effectively patrol the water body. The authority also warned fish poachers that officers on patrol would remain on the ground to ensure that the Zambezi River is protected.
According to the authority, seven Zambians were nabbed in May this year along the Zambezi River in shallow waters and three commercial fishing rigs were impounded.
The seven poachers were from Kalomo District and worked for Mwinde Fishing Co-operative. In August this year, the authority and police also arrested four more poachers at Sebungwe Mouth along the Zambezi River in Binga area.
The four were arrested for catching kapenta in prohibited breeding zones and police seized two commercial fishing rigs from the poachers from Kaoma district and Livingstone.
Fish poaching is a major concern along the Zambezi River, which divides Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The Zambezi River, a transboundary watercourse shared by eight countries at the southern tip of Africa and sharing resources such as fish from this natural water frontier has become a major problem as over-fishing has depleted waterways in other areas and more poachers are encroaching on Zimbabwe. According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation fishing is central to the livelihood of more than 200 million people globally, especially in the developing world. But fish stocks are in jeopardy and under increasing pressure from over-fishing and environmental degradation.