Africa-Press – Tanzania. MINISTRY of Livestock and Fisheries is in final stages of implementing a robust ‘Master Plan for Technical Assistance to Develop the Tanzania Fisheries sector, the National Assembly was told here on Thbursday.
The minister for Livestock and Fisheries, Mashimba Ndaki said the project was being implemented in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). He made the revelation when presenting budget estimates for his ministry, as he asked Members of Parliament to approve 169.2bn/- in recurrent and development expenditure for 2021/2022 financial year.
According to him, the Technical Assistance to Develop Tanzania Fisheries Master Plan aims at making a comprehensive review with a view to coming up with a new plan which will replace the current one which was drafted in 2002. “Until now, several stages have been undertaken, among them, collecting baseline information to be used as crucial guidelines in preparation of the new plan,’’ noted the minister.
He added that the final comprehensive draft of the plan is expected to be completed before the end of this financial year. In the ministry’s 2021/2022, the minister outlined nine key priority areas that the ministry plans to implement, among them, intensifying security and inclusive supervision as well as sustainable use of fisheries resources in the country.
Other priorities include sealing all loopholes for revenue loss on resources obtained from the fisheries sector, as well as strengthening revenue collection on fisheries products. Mr Ndaki further told the august House that in the next financial year, his ministry plans to improve supervision of resources and investment on the sea economic zone, ensuring that there is supervision and control of the quality of fish produced in the country, as well as putting up proper infrastructure for fisheries and boosting fishing business in the country.
“We will also make sure that there is a good flow of information and proper statistics on fishing activities, strengthening research, veterinary education as well as other related matters,’’ said Mr Ndaki.
The minister said other priorities will include increasing aquaculture projects to boost fish production, whereas the government plans in the next fiscal year to increase production and supply of quality fish seeds as a key factor to the expansion of fish farming in the country.
