Summary
·
Despite
their potential,fisheries face challenges that are both natural and man-made
The blue economy concept has gained attention in recent years as more countries turn to marine resources to improve their people’s livelihoods.
But what is the blue economy? In
layman’s language, it entails sustainable use of ocean resources for economic
growth and improved livelihoods.
Fisheries are an important
sub-sector of the blue economy. For a country endowed with water resources such
as Tanzania, fisheries can be a significant player in efforts to further tap
into the socioeconomic potential of our people.
Despite their potential, fisheries
in Tanzania and across the African continent face challenges that are both
natural and man-made. Climate change has made this important economic area
unpredictable, but it is the man-made problems that need our immediate and
undivided attention.
Three colleagues – the respected
marine biologist Prof Yunus Mgaya of the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM);
Prof Razack Lokina, an economist and Vice Chancellor of the University of
Dodoma (Udom), and Dr Reguli Mushy, a water resources expert, who also teaches
at the Open University of Tanzania (OUT) – and I recently researched into how
our fishing communities and the country in general could benefit from the blue
economy.
We interviewed a total of 1,026
respondents in eight fishing villages located in four regions in mainland
Tanzania, namely Dar es Salaam, Tanga, Coast and Lindi. Our focus was mainly on
fishing communities whose livelihoods depend heavily on marine resources.
Before dwelling further on what we
established, it is worth noting what official statistics state about fisheries
in our country. According to the 2021 Bank of Tanzania (BoT) report, fisheries
contributed between 1.6 percent and 3.1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP)
in the last ten years.
De Graaf and Garibaldi noted in 2014
that African governments lost $3.3 billion (Sh7.6 trillion at current exchange
rates) in potential revenue to illegal fishing. This happens on a continent
where, to quote Bailey (2008), “…fishers are normally the poorest of the poor”.
It is an open secret that poverty is
widespread in most fishing communities in our country. In our study, we
established that some fishermen were not even able to eat fish at home as they
need to sell all their catch to make ends meet.
Now, what should we do? Our research
showed that there are two levels at which fisheries can contribute to both GDP
growth and improving the livelihoods of fishing communities in various parts of
the country.
At the GDP level, we can introduce
bigger fishing docks in the country. Most trawlers fishing in the Exclusive
Economic Zone (EEZ) are not recording their yields because our ports are not
capable of handling them.
The government is now building a
large fishing dock in Kilwa District, Lindi Region, which will be able to
handle two to three ships, or up to 30 boats at a go. We need to capitalise on
our EEZ so that we get what we deserve.
At the lower level, it is mostly
about giving local fishers access to the EEZ. Most local fishers are currently
unable to access deep-water resources in the EEZ because of low capacity in
terms of vessel size and technology, bearing in mind that traditional vessels –
90 percent of which use sails –lack sufficient range.
This means that the majority are
artisanal marine fishers, who are mostly confined to shallow waters along coral
reefs, mangrove creeks, sea grass beds and sand banks, where fish species
associated with these habitats are few. As a result, this limits the full
exploitation of aquatic resources for Tanzania’s socioeconomic development.
Our research recommended that local
fishers be empowered through improved access to credit and provision of modern
fishing vessels and appropriate gear to enable them to exploit fully exploit
EEZ resources. We believe that this can pave the way for the development of the
fisheries sub-sector based on existing EEZ resources.
If we consistently and effectively
fight illegal fishing, monitor and regulate deep-sea fishing, invest in docking
ports for big fishing vessels and enable local fishers to access the EEZ
through affordable credit, our socioeconomic fortunes will change for the
better.
It is worth noting that the
government of Her Excellency President Samia Suluhu Hassan has increased the
fisheries budget more than threefold since she came into office. This has made
it possible for fishers to access credit at lower interest rates.
The contribution of fisheries to GDP
is not what it should be, considering the abundant marine resources we are
blessed with. However, the government is making concerted efforts to ensure a
better future for fishing communities across the country and the nation in
general.
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