Lonrho awarded exclusive tuna quota in Mozambique

Oceanfresh has been granted the exclusive rights for five years with a tuna quota set at 12‚000 tonnes per annum.

This is the first time that the Mozambican Government has issued fishing rights for longer than one year and coincides with Lonrho's upgrading of the Oceanfresh commercial cold stores and seafood processing facilities in the Maputo fishing port to handle this volume of fish. The upgrades will develop the Maputo port facility to become the largest cold store fish processing facility in Mozambique with over 6‚000 square metres of processing and freezer space.

Mozambique's nutrient rich waters are renowned as some of the world's best quality sources of yellowfin and bigeye tuna during the prime November-May season‚ when top quality product will be exported to the premium sashimi markets in Japan. Fish caught throughout the year will be processed into frozen steaks and loins for the USA market.

"Oceanfresh is committed to responsible and sustainable fishing policies in support of the long term viability of the fishing industry and is already engaged with the relevant bodies to ensure sustainable and ethical catching methods are followed‚" the group said.