Fish output decline pushes up prices
The Department of Fisheries says beach fish prices are steadily rising due to high demand for fish amid low supply and rising production cost.
In an interview on Tuesday, the department’s director Friday Njaya confirmed the declining fish stocks, especially for chambo.
He said increasing production of usipa and other smaller species has also reduced revenue for the industry.
Njaya said the declining stocks affect per capita consumption of fish, currently pegged at about 12.6 kilogrammes (kg) per year, which is lower than the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended 15 kg per year.
“Indeed, there is a decline of fish stocks in our lake due to various reasons, including habitat degradation, non-compliance to fishing regulations and limited alternative sources of income for lakeshore fishing communities.
“When we look at total fish production, we can say it has been increasing only that over 60 percent constitutes usipa and other smaller fish species,” he said.
Njaya said government has instituted several interventions, including the introduction of a Vessel Monitoring System on Lake Malawi, reviewing fishing regulations and enhancing fish quality through the adoption of better fish processing facilities such as solar rent driers.
The Malawi Government 2019 Annual Economic Report shows that the national average beach price was K928 per kg of fish in 2018, which is an increase from K867 per kg in 2017.
At K1 557 per kg, chambo fish fetched the highest average beach price in 2018.
The report said fish landings in 2018 had a beach or landed value of K196 billion (about $273.18 million), with a volume of 221 849 metric tonnes (MT), an increase of 11.23 percent compared to 2017.
In 2017, fish landings were valued at K173 billion (about $235.7 million), representing a volume of 199 454MT.
In an interview on Wednesday, Consumers Association of Malawi (Cama) executive director John Kapito said since fish output dropped in the past 10 years, prices for chambo and other species have been rising, thereby reducing consumer uptake.
He said: “The country has not developed alternative fish sources other than over-reliance on Lake Malawi and existing small lakes.
“We needed to enhance aquaculture investments long time ago to address the fish scarcity issue. Immediate investments need to be done to manage the supply side by coming up with alternative sources of fish.”
Kapito challenged the Department of Fisheries to rise up to the occasion to manage the situation at hand.
Fish is the common and sought-after source of protein in the country and this means that with rising prices, low-income earners cannot afford to buy fish for consumption to improve their nutritional status.
The report shows that the fish sector is the major source of employment, with figures showing that in 2018 there was a three percent increase in the number of fishers employed to 63 023 from 61 143 in 2017.
