Whereas it is the responsibility of the Government to promote the optimum exploitation of the natural resources of Malawi; and
Whereas the fisheries resources of the waters of Malawi are considered to be capable of more intensive exploitation; and
Whereas to this end it is necessary to improve the technical proficiency and increase the prosperity of the manpower engaged in fishing and related occupations and, as expedient, to develop new opportunities for profitable employment of labour within the fisheries industries; and
Whereas fisheries products may furnish a valuable and readily available supplement to meat in the national diet; and
Whereas it is therefore desirable to develop the fisheries industry and to encourage the wider consumption of fisheries products in Malawi; and
Whereas such measures will require the existence within the Malawi Government of an agency responsible for the formulation of fisheries policy, the guidance of the fisheries industry and the coordination with the Regional and District Administration of fisheries matters within their competence
BE IT ENACTED
PART I
POLICY
Section 1. - It is hereby declared that the fisheries resources in Malawi contribute to the national economy and food supply of Malawi, as well as to the health and well-being of its subjects; that such resources are a living, renewable form of national wealth; that their exploitation offers opportunity for the profitable employment of labour; that a prosperous fishing industry will contribute to the property of Malawi and of its people; and that therefore it is intended by this Law to encourage the development of the fisheries industry and the consumption of its products throughout the country.
PART II
ADMINISTRATION
Section 2. - There shall be established, within the Ministry of Natural Resources, a Fisheries Department.
The Commissioner for Veterinary shall be designated by and shall be responsible to the Minister of Natural Resources, who shall further authorize him to appoint such other officers as may be necessary for the fulfilment of his responsibilities.
Section 3. - The responsibilities of the Fisheries Department shall be to encourage and foster the development of the fisheries industry and the wider consumption of fisheries products, in particular by:
Planning the rational organization of the industry;
Conducting fisheries research and exploitation;
Compiling and analyzing national fisheries statistics;
Collecting and disseminating fisheries information;
Demonstrating and teaching improved methods in fish production, processing and distribution, and training fisheries personnel;
Taking appropriate financial measures to assist fishermen and the fisheries industry, especially for the provision of new equipment and facilities;
Encouraging and assisting the formation and education of fishermen;
Advising and assisting on handling, processing, preservation and transportation problems;
Advising and assisting on marketing problems; and
Providing for liaison, consultation and cooperation as necessary with appropriate national and international public and private agencies for these purposes.
Section 4. - In order to fulfil the said responsibilities, the Fisheries Department shall make such regulations and take such other measures as are, in its opinion, necessary for the more effectual government, management and improvement of the fisheries of Malawi, and for the achievement of the purposes of this Law.
Section 5. - The Fisheries Department shall assist the Regional and District Administration in fisheries matters within their competence and, to this end, may second officers thereto as required.
The Regional and District Administration shall assist the Fisheries Department in the execution of its functions and in the application of any regulations made under this Law.
PART III
FINAL PROVISION
Section 6. - The Minister of Natural Resources shall be responsible for the execution of the provision of this Law which shall come into force on
To provide for the protection and control of fish and for the regulation of fisheries.
Made by the Minister of Natural Resources under section 6 of the Fisheries Law for Malawi of 196
Rule 1: These Rules may be cited as the Fisheries Rules.
Rule 2: The provisions of these Rules shall apply to all districts and areas concerned with fisheries activities in the following waters: Lake Malawi, Lake Malombe, Lake Chilwa, Lake Chiuta, Shire River, the streams and rivers flowing into these lakes and Shire River.
Rule 3. In these Rules, unless the context otherwise requires
“Minister” means the Minister of Natural Resources.
“Commissioner” means the Commissioner for Veterinary and Fisheries.
“Authorized Officer” means any Government Agent, Assistant, Fisheries Officer, Fish Ranger or any public officer appointed in that behalf by the Minister.
“Fishing weir” means any structure whatsoever placed across any water, and resting on the soil, used in connexion with the catching of fish, and includes stake nets.
“Water” means Malawi waters other than water in private ownership having no communication with other water.
“Spawning areas” means any area in which fish breed and such area may be prescribed for any particular species of fish.
“Close season” means such annual period as may be prescribed during which, in relation to any fish, such fish may not be taken, killed or injured.
“Immature”, in relation to any fish, means that it is of a length less than such as may be prescribed.
“Fishing net” means any type of net used to catch fish;
“Prohibited place” means any prescribed place in which it is an offence to take, kill, or injure, any fish;
“Industrial fisherman” means any fisherman or association of fishermen or cooperative to fishermen whose fishing equipment consists of:
“Semi-industrial fisherman” means any fisherman whose fishing equipment consists of:
“Traditional fisherman” means any fisherman with equipment consisting of:
PART I - GENERAL RESTRICTIONS
| Rule 4: | No person shall, without the written consent of the Mini ster, introduce into any water any species of fish not naturally indigenous thereto, or indigenous to any other water so connected therewith that natural inter-change of species between such waters is possible. |
| Rule 5: | (1) No person shall cause or knowingly permit to flow, or put or knowingly permit to be put, into any water, any liquid or solid matter of a poisonous nature to such an extent as to stupefy, injure or kill any fish; |
Provided that the Commissioner may give written permission for the destruction of fish by poison in special cases. | |
| (2) No person shall use or knowingly permit to be used any explosive in any water for the purpose of stunning or killing any fish: | |
Provided that the Commissioner may give written permission for the use of explosives for purposes of experiment or investigation on specific occasions. | |
| (3) No person shall knowingly take, kill or injure, any fish which is immature: | |
Provided that any person who accidentally takes any immature fish and returns it to the water immediately with the least possible injury shall not be guilty of an offence under this subsection. | |
Provided that the Commissioner may give written permission to take immature fish for purposes of experiment or investigation on specific occasions. | |
| (4) No person shall buy, sell, expose for sale, or be in possession or knowingly permit to buy, sell, expose for sale, or be in possession of immature fish. | |
Provided that the Commissioner may give written permission to be in possession of immature fish for purposes of experiment or investigation on specific occasions. | |
| Rule 6: | Subject to the provisions of these Rules, no person shall use or knowingly permit to be used any fishing net which has not been registered in accordance with the provisions of these Rules. |
| Rule 7: | Any person who contravenes any of the provisions of rules 3 to 6 inclusive of this Part shall be guilty of an offence. |
PART II - REGISTRATION OF FISHING NETS
| Rule : | (1) Every person who owns a fishing net shall register the same with, and obtain a licence therefore from, a registering authority. |
Provided that the Minister may, whenever he is of the opinion that any water is being over-fished, prohibit any registering authority from registering fishing nets until his further order. | |
| (2) Registering authorities for the purpose of this rule shall be the District Council. | |
| (3) Every registering authority shall keep a register of all fishing nets registered and licensed by him in the form set out in the First Schedule to these Rules. | |
| (4) There shall be payable on the registration of a fishing net such fee as prescribed in the following Rule 9. | |
| (5) The registering authority shall, without further charge, issue to each person registered as the owner of a fishing net a metal licence disc which shall be affixed by the registered owner to, and maintained by him on, the net in respect of which it was issued. | |
| (6) Subject to the provisions of this Part, fishing nets shall be registered annually on or before the 1st September in every year, and the licence disc issued in respect of any fishing net shall remain valid until the 31st August following the date of registration only, and must then be renewed. | |
| (7) Any person who owns or uses a fishing net which does not have affixed to it a valid licence disc shall be guilty of an offence. | |
| Rule 9: | The annual fees payable by a fisherman owner on the registration of fishing nets shall be as follows: |
| £. s. d. |
Industrial fisherman:
for a gill net of 100 yards or part thereof
Semi-industrial, and traditional fisherman:
PART III - INDUSTRIAL AND SEMI-INDUSTRIAL FISHING LICENCES
| Rule 10: | No industrial, or semi-industrial, fisherman, either himself or by his servants or agents, may catch fish for the purposes of sale unless he is the holder of an industrial, or semi-industrial, fishing licence. |
| Rule 11: | Every application for an industrial or semi-industrial fishing licence shall be made to the Minister in the form set out in the Second Schedule to these Rules. |
| Rule 12: | (1) The Minister, after considering an application for an industrial or semi-industrial fishing licence, shall grant or refuse the same but may, before reaching a decision, require the applicant to furnish any further information which the Minister may consider necessary. |
| (2) The Minister may attach to any industrial or semi-industrial fishing licence such conditions as he may consider necessary or expedient. | |
| (3) This industrial or semi-industrial fishing licence is personal and is not negotiable or transferable without the permission in writing of the Minister. | |
| (4) Every industrial or semi-industrial fishing licence shall be in the form set our in the Third Schedule to these Rules. | |
| (5) An industrial fishing licence shall be valid for such period not exceeding twenty years as may be specified therein. | |
| (6) There shall be payable on the issue of an industrial or semi-industrial fishing licence such fees as prescribed in the following rule 13. | |
| Rule 13: | (1) A special fee, payable on the issue, for an industrial fishing licence shall be £ |
| (2) An annual fee, from January 1st till December 31st, shall be payable for each fishing licence issued. The amount of this fee shall be: | |
(a) for an industrial fishing licence £ (b) for a semi-industrial fishing licence £ | |
Provided that where a licence is issued for a period which is less than a year the fee shall be reduced by one-twelfth for each complete calendar month by which such period falls short of a year. | |
| Rule 14: | (1) The industrial or semi-industrial licensee shall keep daily records of catches made and gear used in the form set out in the Fourth or Fifth Schedule to these Rules. |
| (2) The industrial or semi-industrial licensee shall render this monthly form within seven days of the end of every month. | |
| (3) Such records shall be produced for the inspection of the Fisheries Officer or his accredited representative at all reasonable times. | |
| Rule 15: | The licensee shall expose his catches for detailed weighing if called upon to do so by the Authorised Officer or his representative at all hours when fishing operations or discharging fish operations are in progress. |
| Rule 16: | (1) The holder of any industrial or semi-industrial fishing licence who breaks any of the conditions thereof shall be guilty of an offence. |
| (2) An industrial or semi-industrial fishing licence may be revoked by the Minister at any time if the holder fails to comply with the provisions of these Rules or with any condition attached to his licence. | |
| Rule 17: | Every decision of the Minister under rules 12 and 16(2) shall be final. |
PART IV - MISCELLANEOUS
| Rule 1: | Any person may fish with rod or handline for the purpose of sport. |
| Rule 19: | (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of rule 1, no person shall fish for trout unless he is the holder of a trout fishing licence issued in the prescribed form. |
| (2) Any person who contravenes the provisions of subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence. | |
| Rule 20: | (1) Where any fishing weir has been erected in any water, a Fisheries Officer or Fish Ranger may, if he considers it to be necessary for the protection or conservation of fish stocks, and subject to the general or special directions of the Minister, order that, either until further notice or for such period as he may direct, a free gap shall be left in mid-channel of such width as he may direct and of such nature as to permit the free passage of fish. |
| (2) The fishing traps must be put with the opening up stream. | |
| (3) The owner or person having charge of any fishing weir in respect of which an Order is made under the provisions of subsection (1) shall forthwith comply with such Order, and if after due warning by an authorized officer any fishing weir is maintained or used in contravention of such an Order an authorized officer may, subject to the general or special directions of the Minister, destroy such weir or alter it so as to comply with the provisions of the Order. | |
| (4) No person shall own or use any fish trap which is not provided with such apertures as prescribed in Rule 25. | |
| (5) Any person who contravenes the provisions of subsections (1) to (4) inclusive shall be guilty of an offence. | |
| Rule 21: | Industrial, semi-industrial and traditional fishermen may not use other gear or more in quantity than those listed under their definition in Rule 3 of these Rules. |
Provided that the Commissioner may give written permission for the use of other gear for purposes of experiment or investigation on specific occasions. | |
| Rule 22: | (1) Ring net may be used in Lake Malawi only and shall not operate closer than one mile to the shore of the mainland or any island or in a depth less than ten fathoms. |
| (2) Fishing with ring net is not allowed from November 15th to next January 15th. | |
| Rule 23: | The maximum sizes of the nets are: |
| (1) for a ring net: 600 yards long and 650 meshes depth; (2) for a gill net: 100 yards long and 60 meshes depth. | |
| Rule 24: | The minimum sizes of meshes of following nets are: |
| (1) | for a ring net: | 4 inches stretched mesh; |
| (2) | for a gill net: | (a) in Lake Malawi: 3½ inches stretched mesh; |
| (b) in Lake Malombe: 3 inches stretched mesh; | ||
| (c) in Shire River: 3 inches stretched mesh; | ||
| (d) in Lake Chilwa: 2½ inches stretched mesh. | ||
| (3) | for a shore seine net: | |
| (a) in Lake Malawi: | 2 inches stretched mesh, excepting that North of the mouth of the Dwambazi River no restriction shall apply; | |
| (b) in Lake Malombe: | 2 inches stretched mesh; | |
| (c) in Shire River: | 2 inches stretched mesh; | |
| (d) in Lake Chilwa: | 0.4 inch stretched mesh. | |
| (4) | the measurements defined in the above subsections (1), (2) and (3) are taken when the nets are wet. | |
| Rule 25: | The fishing traps set in weirs shall have apertures of at least two inches in their shorter dimension, along two thirds of the length measured from their opening. | |
| Rule 26: | The immature sizes of fish are: | |
| (a) for Tilapia species: | 5.5 inches total length in Lake Chilwa 6 inches total length in other waters. | |
| (b) for Labeo species: | 10 inches total length. | |
| Rule 27: | Any person who contavenes the provisions of the Rules of Part IV shall be guilty of an offence. | |
PART V - OFFENCES AND LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
| Rule 2: | (1) | For the purposes of preventing or detecting the source of an offence against these Rules, any authorized offier may without warrant - |
| (a) | require any person to produce for inspection any catch of fish in his possession or control; | |
| (b) | call upon any person to produce for inspection any licence which he ought to hold under these Rules; | |
| (c) | call upon the holder of any such licence to produce for inspection any returns or accounts required to be kept under the conditions thereof; | |
| (d) | enter and search any land, building, tent, vehicle or boat and open and search any baggage or thing; | |
| (e) | seize any vessel, fishing net, fish trap, rod, fishing tackle, poison, explosive or other material, the use of which for fishing is prohibited, restricted or regulated by these Rules, and which the authorized officer has reason to suspect has been used or is intended to be used in contravention thereof; | |
| (f) | where the authorized offier has reason to suspect that an offence against these Rules has been committed, seize any licence, returns, accounts, document or thing whether of a nature similar to those before enumerated or not, which appears to the authorized officer to be evidence of the commission of an offence against these Rules; | |
| (g) | arrest and detain any person whom the authorized officer has reason to believe bas committed an offence against these Rules and who is likely, unless arrested, to fail to appear in answer to any charge which may be preferred against him, or whose name and address is unknown to, and cannot immediately be ascertained by, the authorized officer: | |
Provided that anything seized or person arrested under the foregoing powers shall, with all practicable speed, be taken before a magistrate to be dealt with according to law. | ||
| (2) | Any person who wilfully obstructs any authorized officer in the exercise of his powers under this section, or who wilfully gives any false information to such officer, shall be guilty of an offence. | |
| (3) | Where any fish or other article of a perishable nature is seized under these Rules as liable to forfeiture, the person by whom it was seized may sell it and the net proceeds of the sale shall be liable to forfeiture in the same manner as the fish or other article sold, if and so far as not forfeited, shall be paid on demand to the owner of the fish or other article sold: | |
Provided that no person shall be subject to any liability on account of his neglect or failure to exercise the powers conferred by this section. | ||
| Rule 29: | Any person guilty of an offence against these Rules shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding £ or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and imprisonment. | |
| Rule 30: | When any person is convicted of an offence against these Rules the court may, in addition to any other penalty, order that anything produced before the court which it decides has been used in connexion with the offence shall be forfeited to Government. | |
FIRST SCHEDULE
FORM OF REGISTER
(Rule (3), Fisheries Rules)
Type of net
Date registered
Name of owner
Address
Registration disc number
Maximum length of net
Maximum depth of net
Minimum mesh of net
Place where net kept
Fee paid on registration
SECOND SCHEDULE
FORM OF APPLICATION FOR AN INDUSTRIAL OR SEMI-INDUSTRIAL FISHING LICENCE
(Rule 11, Fisheries Rules)
Name of applicant
Address in Malawi
Definition of waters in which applicant proposes to fish
Brief but precise definition of the fishing methods which applicant proposes to use
Beaches (*other than shore stations owned or leased by the applicant or recognized Lake Ports) which the applicant proposes to use for regular landing of
| To: The Commissioner for Veterinary Services and Fisheries | |
| Date | Signature of Applicant |
THIRD SCHEDULE
FORM OF (INDUSTRIAL)* FISHING LICENCE
(SEMI-INDUSTRIAL)
(Rule 12, Fisheries Rules)
A licence is hereby granted to
of (hereinafter referred to as the licensee(s)
to fish for the purpose of trade in the waters hereinafter defined
on and subject to the following conditions:
A. GENERAL CONDITIONS
(a) this licence shall be valied until the day of 19 unless earlier revoked by me under section 16 (2) of the Fisheries Rules;
(b) fish taken under this licence may only be landed at
unless weather conditions render complicance with this condition impossible. The
burden of establishing such impossibility shall lie with the licensee;
(c) fishing under this licence shall be restricted to the methods defined for an
“industrial fisherman” * in Rule 3 of the Fisheries Rules.
“semi-industrial fisherman”
(d) the use of gear shall be subject to the following limitations of time, place and quantity;
(e) fish curing racks, bulk storing of fish, and station sanitation shall conform
to the requirements of hygiene which the Medical Officer may at his
discretion impose, and in particular
(f) the licensee shall keep such books of accounts as are proper and ordinary in his business and sufficient to show his financial position at any time that an inspection of his accounts may be called for;
(g) the licensee undertakes to comply with the provisions of the Fisheries Rules, and all Rules, Regulations and Orders which may be made thereunder and of any legislation which may amend or replace the said Rules and Orders.
B. SPECIAL CONDITIONS
Fee payable £
Dated at Zomba this day of 19
Minister
* Cross out whichever is inapplicable
FOURTH SCHEDULE
MONTHLY INDUSTRIAL FISHING SUMMARY
(Rule 14 (1), Fishing Rules)
Month
Firm
| Fishing Details | Weight in lbs. | ||||||||||
| Date | Chart Reference | Type Net | No. pulls; R.N. Hours fishing No. of gill nets | Tilapia | Labeo | Bagrus | Clarias | Barbels | Usipa | Utaka | Others |
| Total of the month: | |||||||||||
Sizes of nets: ring net: Length Depth
gill net: Length Depth
FIFTH SCHEDULE
MONTHLY SEMI-INDUSTRIAL FISHING SUMMARY
(Rule 14 (1), Fisheries Rules)
| Date | Weight in lbs. | Gill nets Total No of Yards set daily | |||||||
| Tilapia | Labeo | Bagrus | Clarias | Barbels | Usipa | Utaka | Others | ||
