Consultative workshop on combatting monofilament nets organised in Malawi

October 2025 – Per Erik Bergh (CEO and Managing Director) and Andréa Durighello (Fisheries Expert) travelled to Senga Bay, Salima, district of Lake Malawi, for a national consultative workshop on the issue of monofilament nets in the country and in the region.

The workshop organised on 27-28 October, was attended by 40 participants from all five districts bordering the Lake (Karonga, Nkhota Kota, Nkhata Bay, Salima and Mangochi) as well as the economic and administrative capitals Lilongwe and Blantyre. The participants represented all important stakeholder groups, including fisheries officers, research, trade and customs and the police, as well as representatives of the district, local authorities, Joint Monofilament Committees (JMC) from the different districts, the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Ripple Africa and the media.

The objective of the meeting was to catalyse collective national and regional action against illegal monofilament nets, driven by evidence from Malawi.

All experiences shared during the workshop will be used to build a regional case for action, which will be positioned for consideration by the upcoming by the Operational Task Force Meeting of the Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Coordination Centre (MCSCC) of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which is planned to take place early 2026, with the objective to table the issue at the SADC Technical Committee on Fisheries (TCF) and subsequently at the SADC Ministers’ meeting in 2026.