Warlos Enterprise, a Technology Company in Karonga has donated essential tools to Chigwere Fishing Club of Mlare to boost fish farming and improve fish storage at Mlare Lagoon in the district.
The tools include a fishing cage, a solar powered refrigerator and a canoe, aimed at helping the club sustainably increase fish stocks while improving post-harvest management.
Warlos Enterprise Director, Atupele Barros Mweso, said they decided to provide such support after noting that communities around the lagoon did not consider fish farming seriously.
“We discovered that communities here considered fishing merely as a daily routine without putting efforts to help the fish multiply, such approach has contributed to depletion of some species hence our coming to promote fish farming and prevent stocks from replenishing,” Mweso said.
Mweso added that they expect the fishing cage to be able to produce about 8,500 tonnes of fish and pledged continued support to the club to ensure success of the initiative.
Chairperson for Chigwere Fishing Club, Dickson Sichali, thanked the company for supporting them saying the donation will revolutionize their fishing activities.
“This help has come at the right time, most of us just thought of fishing without caring about how fish species were disappearing, so with this support, we are assured of multiplication of the fish and we will be able to catch more fish than we used to,” Sichali said.
Sichali revealed that storing the catch was a challenge in the past, such that fish could go bad if they delayed to go with it to the market soon after catching it.
“Previously, we had to rush to the market immediately after catching fish to prevent it from going bad, now with this refrigerator, we can store the catch and sell it at out convenient time without worrying about spoilage,” he said.
Chigwere Fishing Club is composed of fishermen residing around Mlare Lagoon in Karonga District.
