Mozambique has the second largest coastline and the second largest shelf in the region. The development of the country and the well being of a great proportion of the Mozambique population depend on the marine and coastal resources. Fisheries and coastal tourism are among those opportunities that hold the greatest potential for the economic development of the country.

In order to assure that the resources are used sustainably to serve the forthcoming generations, which is the ultimate NEPAD goal, the management measures should be based on sound scientific knowledge. This implies an adequate understanding of the processes and factors that govern the distribution and availability of the resources and that govern the health of the associated ecosystems and habitats.

The major issues of concern for Mozambique, as in most of the African coastal states, are associated with the over-exploitation of the resources, use of inadequate harvesting methods, destruction of the ecosystems and habitats that support the resources, harsh climate events, as well as the limited knowledge on the ecosystem structure and functioning and limited capacity for predicting and forecasting the controlling events and resources availability.

Research and monitoring, particularly in the deep sea, are expensive because they often require the use of ships. The remote sensing technology has not yet been developed to the stage of substituting ship time. One way of reducing ship costs is to share the ship time among two or more countries.

Thus, the African C oelacanth Ecosystem Programme opens up an opportunity for the countries in the region to survey and monitor the water under their EEZ with relatively low costs. Further, the programme brings together scientists from different countries and institutions, with different background, improving our knowledge and understanding through regional experience sharing and through integrated trans-border management of the marine resources – the ocean has no boundaries.

In particular, the coelacanth programme would help Mozambique in surveying and monitoring:

· Deep sea processes that influence the distribution and availability of open sea fisheries such as tuna and other highly migratory species.

· Shelf and slope processes, where the major fisheries are located.

· Oceanographic processes that influence the climate.

· Mapping the sea flow as habitats for demersal fishes.

Further, the coelacanth programme provides a training laboratory for our students and researchers.

Mozambique is committed to the successful implementation of the coelacanth programme. Initially the institutions to be involved are as follows:

· Ministry of Fisheries through its Fisheries Research Institute (IIP)

· Ministry of Higher Education, Sciences and Technology

· Eduardo Mondlane University through the Department of Biology, the Natural History Museum and the Chair of Marine sciences and oceanography.

Meet the Mozambican ACEP Team.

Learn more about Mozambique at the CIA World Fact Book.