Africa-Press – Tanzania. A TOTAL of 195,000 US dollars (about 450m/-) have been used to develop Voluntary Guidelines for securing sustainable small scale fishing in the country.
This was said here over the weekend by the Food, Agriculture organisation (FAO) Country Director Mr Charles Tulahi, when he was explaining the organization’s contribution to the development of the sector in the country, during the inauguration of the canoe race for the women fishermen from Lake Zone regions.
He said despite the FAO financing such amounts of funds in the period of three years (2019-21) which also supported both the preparation of the Voluntary guidelines and the country fisheries strategic plan, its mission is to see small-scale fishing become sustainable and bring impact to the fishing community for their better future.
“It is our belief that this fishing strategic plan will bring significant changes in the fishing sector in the country especially for small scale-women who are employed in the sector,” he explained.
He said FAO praised the Tanzania government for giving them an opportunity to participate in the preparation of the national voluntary guideline of recognizing and developing fishery resources, a move which will help in improving nutrition, employment and income for the community.
“We have partnered with the government of Tanzania to ensure that the fishing environment for small-scale fishers is well maintained for their livelihood and their wellbeing,” he said.
For his part, the Director of Fisheries Department from the ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Mr Emmanuel Bulayi said the government is committed to improving the fishing sector for small scale fishers in the country especially women so that they benefit from the fishery resources available in the country.
“We are serious and we have prepared this voluntary guideline and strategic plan for the development of fisheries resources and their produce in the country,” he said.
He said the government aim of drafting the guideline in collaboration with FAO is to promote the contribution of small-scale fisheries to an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable future for the planet and its people.
He said the guideline which was accepted by the international community outline the principles of managing and developing smallscale fishing because 85 percent of fishing activities in the country are carried out by the low income citizens.
He said since independence, the fishing sector has not yet made significant contribution to the fishing industry and that through the guideline the government wants to uplift small-scale fishers by providing them loans, training and markets.
He said the guideline is the first agreement of its kind internationally on small-scale fisheries linking the importance of fishing in the world with techniques that can be used to ensure its sustainability for present and future generations.
For More News And Analysis About Tanzania Follow Africa-Press
