Just over 700 kg of shrimp were seized by the fish inspection authorities last Tuesday (22) in Nampula province. The seizure took place when the product was being unloaded for sale in the Muahivire-expansion neighborhood in the city of Nampula, writes the newspaper "Carta".  

The shellfish was caught on the beaches of the coastal district of Moma, at a time when the government authorities, through the Ministry of the Sea and Inland Waters, have decreed a fishing ban on surface shrimp and mangrove crab in all coastal provinces between November 1 and March 14 next year.

According to the newspaper, this is the first time that the fish inspection sector of the Provincial Services for Economic Activities in Nampula has seized shellfish of this kind since the closure period was decreed.

The fisheries inspection coordinator at the Provincial Services for Economic Activities in Nampula, Zebedeu Gouveia, said that the seizure of the shellfish happened in the middle of a routine inspection, in which the inspectors surprised individuals unloading six baskets, which in total contained around 700 kilograms of shrimp.

In fact, as part of the inspection that culminated in the seizure of the shrimp, around 50 vehicles were inspected from the early hours of Tuesday.

From the moment the closure period is decreed, fishing, using trawl gear, transportation and marketing of all prohibited marine species is prohibited.

"The individuals who were in possession of the shrimp went on the run, abandoning their product," said the source. Gouveia said that the state may have lost around 7,000 meticais, if the sale is calculated at 100 meticais per kilogram.

According to the source, half of the seized shrimp will be sold at a public auction, in favor of the state, and the other half will be distributed to charitable establishments, namely hospitals, detention centers, among others. (Letter)