With nearly 200 tonnes of fresh fish currently being harvested from the dam each year, Tugwi-Mukosi, Zimbabwe’s largest inland water body, is quickly developing into a significant source of income and a nutrition booster for communities in rural Masvingo.
The water body continues to have a positive impact on the ongoing socioeconomic transformation in the province, with an average of 18 tonnes of fish being harvested from the dam each year by 17 community fishing cooperatives from the Masvingo area for sale and domestic consumption.
According to data obtained from Zimparks, private fish breeders using cages at the dam are harvesting more than 160 tonnes of fish each year.
The government stocked more than 500 000 fingerling bream fish in the reservoir that divides the Masvingo and Chivi districts and was constructed at the confluence of the Tugwi and Mukosi rivers.
Fish caught at the Tugwi-Mukosi Dam, according to Zimparks Director General Dr. Fulton Mangwanya, is transforming lives in the two districts’ communities.
Dr. Mangwanya claims that in addition to fishing, the water body is also a tourism low-hanging fruit in a speech read on his behalf by Zimparks Tourism and Customer Services Manager Mr. Peter Dhlula at World Tourism Day celebrations hosted by the Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry at the water body.
“The granting of gillnet permits to 17 fishing cooperatives has facilitated community empowerment. According to Dr. Mangwanya, they catch an average of 18 tonnes per year, which are sold locally to enhance the community’s nutritional value.
“Investors have received five commercial cage culture permits, and they are already producing more than 160 tonnes of fresh fish annually.
Rod and line fishing, which is generating a lot of interest nationwide, maybe a way for Zimparks to increase revenue at Tugwi-Mukosi.
With participants from neighboring South Africa already beginning to show interest, the annual bass fishing tournament, which currently draws an average of 100 anglers to the dam, has excellent prospects for growth.
Tugwi-Mukosi was commissioned in 2017 but has not yet been fully utilized. The water body has potential for agriculture tourism in areas further downstream, and its picturesque topography and islands have the potential to increase tourism in conjunction with plans to build hotels and open casinos.
Learn more about investment opportunities at Tugwi Mukosi.
Source: The Herald
