Page 10 - Tanzania Report

Collaborative management has created and widened the participatory processes, for instance
the Tanga Programme made significant achievements in fisheries conservation and management,
promoting the role of women and improving environmental awareness (van Ingen and Makoloweka
1998, Kelleher 1999).

Fisheries
The challenge
Country Profile
The fisheries sector plays a critical role to the economy. The sector supports food security, livelihoods
and the national economy. For instance, artisanal fisheries are known for their contribution to the
eradication of poverty and hunger issues by providing a protein-rich food, creating employment
The Republic of Tanzania
and boosting income, thus making a significant contribution to livelihoods of coastal communities.
However, population growth and human activity are a challenge impacting the environment at the
coast negatively.

The situation
Total fisheries production is 383,000 thousand Metric tonnes. Capture fish averages an annual
growth rate of 0.9 per cent between 2000-15 while the average annual growth rate in aquaculture
was 15.7 per cent between 2000 and 2015.

Artisanal f?sheries

Fisheries in Tanzania are predominantly categorized into artisanal/ subsistence fisheries and
commercial fisheries where the difference lies in the methods of harvesting. The former using vessels
and the latter using gear. Fisheries Act No. 22 of 2003 defines the artisanal fisheries as activity that
is traditional and not commercially oriented, which uses relatively small amounts of capital and the
fishing is limited to inshore waters only.

Tanzania‘s artisanal fishing is concentrated in shallow waters, inshore and around islands, for example
the islands of Pemba, Zanzibar and Mafia and coastal regions of Bagamoyo and Rufigi delta (UNEP).
This sector comprises of small catches for species such as parrot fish, rabbit fish, sardines and mackerels
and catch contributes 50% of the total catch (Julius and Ian Bryceson). Fisheries in Tanzania, the
subsistence/ artisanal fisheries use traditional as well as modern boats which are about 3m to 9m
long (Fisheries 3 2010).They use vessels such as ngalawa (outrigger dug-out boat), mtumbwi (dug-out
canoe), dau and mashua (planked boats). The gear such as dema (basket fish-trap), uzio (stakes tidal
fish-trap), mshipi (hand-line), nyavu or jarife (gillnet), and juya (seine net) (Bryceson 1985).

Commercial f?sheries
Commercial fisheries is mainly carried out in territorial waters where the use of trawlers is dominant
and these are mainly for harvesting prawns and shrimp, however, the fishery has been closed since
2007 due to a decline in prawn resources.

The Constraints
Population demands

Growing population as a result of the growing tourism industry. This has led to an increase in fishing
pressure to meet the demand and at the same time it has encouraged the use of destructive methods

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