The Consumer Unit Trust Society (CUTS) Zambia notes that Zambia’s fish industry has grown exponentially in the recent past.
The Society has however bemoaned the fish deficit in the country saying this shows that the country is importing more fish that it is exporting.
CUTS Zambia Center Coordinator Chenai Mukumba has told Money FM News that this shows that the fish industry does not have the capacity to meet the local demand.
Ms Mukumba says there is an urgent need to probe why the country still has a fish deficit despite having the capacity to produce more.
She said the best way to address this challenge is to look at the cost of production in the fish industry.
The CUTS Zambia Center Coordinator stated that there is further need to look at the environment in which fish farming is being undertaken.
President Edgar Lungu recently said Zambia has a fish deficit of 80, 000 tonnes per year and more Zambians should venture into fish farming to seal the huge deficit.
Zambia produces only about 25, 000 tonnes annually while about 75, 000 tonnes are imported.