Africa-Press – Angola. Some fishmongers in the city of Soyo, Zaire province, requested, this Wednesday, the creation of a space with adequate hygiene and safety conditions for the sale of fish.
They stated that the lack of a specific space creates constraints for carrying out their activity on the banks of the Zaire River.
Luísa Adriana, who has been a fishmonger for four years, complained about the lack of a fixed place to sell the fish, stressing that the little profit she makes is shared with the owner of the land where she rents it.
Celestina Miguel Fernanda, found selling fish in one of the backyards in downtown Soyo, next to the river channel, also lamented the lack of a specific space for selling fish, which is why she asked the municipal authorities to reverse this situation.
“I have been in this space with my colleagues for six years, where we pay four thousand kwanzas for each shipment of fish. We barely made any profit,” she lamented.
He defended the creation of a market next to the river channel, with hygiene and fish conservation conditions, so that they could carry out their activity with dignity and offer quality products to customers.
Someone who also spoke out about the problem of the lack of conditions for selling fish is shipowner Nsimba Pedro, a member of an association of local artisanal fishermen.
For him, the place where the vessels dock to unload the fish lacks a pier, therefore attributing responsibility to the Soyo Port Authority for creating appropriate structures.
“We pay tax fees to the Port Authority of Soyo, therefore, we demand that they also create conditions for us to better practice our profession”, he asserted.
The movement of customers looking for fish on the banks of the Zaire River, in the downtown area of Soyo, where many vessels dock to unload the product, is quite intense, starting in the early hours of the morning.
On site you can see the presence of officers from the Port Authority of Soyo, to supervise and tax the activity of artisanal shipowners.
Croaker, cachucho, cod, swordfish, shellfish, especially lobster, are the species most caught by artisanal fishermen on the coast of Soyo.
Fisheries Sector requires organization of fishmongers
To react to the fishmongers’ complaints, the municipal director of Agriculture and Fisheries, Agostinho Seque, advised them to organize themselves into associations or cooperatives, so that their demands have a legal basis.
He said that the sector in Soyo only controls an association of fishmongers, made up of 15 members, which is why he considered it impossible to meet the individual needs of those who carry out the activity in a dispersed manner.
As for the docking sites for artisanal vessels to unload fish, the official said there are three locations on the banks of the Zaire River accredited for this purpose, namely the Manuel António, Ntona Coba and Pesca Artesanal ports.
The Soyo Agriculture and Fisheries sector controls 39 accredited artisanal fishing cooperatives, according to the source, who acknowledged that there are shipowners who continue to carry out the activity illegally, given the area’s extensive sea and river coastline, which makes it difficult for them to operate. full supervision.
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