Africa-Press – Angola. From now on, anyone found to be carrying out trawling activities on the Angolan coast will be penalized according to the legislation in force, admitted Thursday, in the municipality of Tômbwa, in Namibe province, the minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, João Francisco de Assisi
During his 48-hour working visit to the region, the minister launched the challenge in a meeting he held with operators in the fishing sector, having considered illegal trawling off the coast of Namibe as “a carcinogenic disease”, which requires courage from all operators and the application of legislation against offenders.
“Today, trawling is not illegal, in the Angolan legal system, but what is illegal is a trawler to develop its activity on the coast and not in the miles, as are duly licensed”, he underlined.
Support for the production of salt and fishing, the collection of VAT and taxes on Motor Vehicles and the need to build a Fishing Port were issues that the partners discussed with the minister.
According to data presented by Archer Mangueira to the President of the Republic, on his last visit to the province, illegal fishing by the famous “trawlers”, which insist on taking everything found on the maritime coast reserved for artisanal fishing, “is part of acts of violation of Angolan sovereignty, of invasion and attack on the security of the State”.
A few days ago, the president of the Namibe Fisheries Association, Jorge Hilário de Sousa, complained about the continued presence of trawlers on the Namibe coast, which, according to him, are decimating the shoals and harming the biomass.
“This practice prevails and it is convenient to clarify that we (Association of Fisheries of Namibe) are not against the practice of trawling as such, but we are against the practices that are carried out by some vessels, which violate all the legal norms” , highlighted.
For More News And Analysis About Angola Follow Africa-Press
