The official made the announcement on Wednesday in Maputo during the launch of the Annual Prize for Journalism on Fisheries and Aquaculture, where he challenged competitors to give voice to artisanal and pen-scale fishermen through their work.
“Artisanal fisheries contributed with more than 3, 4900 tonnes of fish, equivalent to 92 percent which is equivalent to $6.2 million with the industrial sector contributing only 8 percent to the GDP last year “, Mondlane said.
The Minister of the Sea, Inland Waters and Fisheries, Agostinho Mondlane, on the other hand, appealed to journalists not to charge the prize for the monetary value, but for the contribution they can make, by influencing minds.
The secretary general of the National Union of Journalists, Eduardo Constantino, called for the involvement of the journalists in the contest.
Small-scale fisheries in Africa employs over 95% of fishers, and provides more than 90 percent of the fish consumed across the continent.
CM/afm/APA