Spanish seafood firm Nueva Pescanova has announced intentions to sell its Mozambique subsidiary Grupo Pescamar as shrimp biomass off the coast of the Southeast African country continues to dwindle.
Reports have indicated for several years that the sustainability of the Mozambican shallow-water shrimp fishery has been under threat from overfishing, rapid and uncontrolled expansion of the artisanal fishing subsector, deployment of destructive fishing techniques, and habitat destruction.
Other studies of Mozambique’s artisanal fishing subsector point to an overfished shrimp resource nearing a stage of exhaustion, a trend attributed to excessive capacity of the industrial fleet fishing for the resource, increasing pressure from the artisanal fishing subsector, use of illegal fishing gear such as mosquito nets and dredges, destruction of habitats, pollution, and climate change.
As a result, Nueva Pescanova has reportedly signaled its intention to sell all of Grupo Pescamar, which mainly engages in industrial shrimp fishing. The subsidiary has 26 vessels in its fleet, operates a processing plant in the city of Beira, and possesses an estimated 40% of shrimp quotas in the Sofala Bank, according to reports.
Although Nueva Pescanova, which also has operations in South Africa and Namibia, has not directly talked of its planned exit from Mozambique, the reports come at a time when Grupo Pescamar and other industrial shrimp companies in Mozambique are actively involved in activities aimed at the restoration of the nation’s fisheries and, thus, may soon cut back on fishing activity and implement more sustainable fishing methods.
For instance, Pescamar has been investing in technology aimed at reducing the impact of fishing vessels on marine ecosystems, including using clear-bottom boats that “allow us to see the bottom of the sea, how the nets are dragged, and how the doors are placed in the sea, without going all the way to the bottom, which would harm the ecosystem and biodiversity,” the firm said.
Mozambique has taken several steps in the past two decades to grow its aquaculture and fisheries output.
Though its shrimp fishery is currently experiencing sustainability issues, government-driven seafood industry reforms in Mozambique as a whole have resulted in steady fish production growth, according to a 2025 report from the Malabo Montpellier Panel, a group of international agriculture experts who aim to guide policy changes that ensure food security and improved nutrition in Africa.
“Mozambique has undertaken significant efforts to strengthen its fisheries and aquaculture sector through a blend of institutional innovations to enhance sustainable resource management and support socioeconomic development,” the report said. “This coordinated effort by multiple stakeholders underscores Mozambique’s progress in achieving long-term food security, economic resilience, and ecosystem conservation, ensuring that fisheries and aquaculture contribute to sustainable development and improved livelihoods for all Mozambicans.”
