Africa-Press – Tanzania. TANZANIA has managed to end illegal fishing on its sea waters completely, thanks to government’s effective control measures.
Director of the Department of Fisheries Development in the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, Mr Emmanuel Bulayi, revealed that the country has controlled illegal fishing in the ocean by 100 per cent. He said similar efforts managed to contain illegal fishing in Lake Victoria by between 75 and 85 per cent.
Mr Bulayi said the achievements are the result of the government’s stringent measures, including law enforcement, conducting patrols and creating awareness among communities surrounding water resources.
“The government has done a great job in controlling illegal fishing…Illegal fishing now has been controlled by 100 per cent on sea waters,” he stated.
He revealed the new development in Dar es Salaam when briefing journalists over what transpired during the two-day meeting of the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organisation (LVFO) that ended yesterday.
The meeting, chaired by him, meant to discuss the E€OFISH programme in the EAC region in Lake Victoria.
The project’s overall objective is to enhance equitable economic growth by promoting sustainable fisheries in the East African- South African-Indian Ocean (EA-SA-IO) region.
Mr Bulayi noted that through the project, Tanzania was able to conduct census on resources and fishermen conducting activities on Lake Victoria.
The census established that there were over 100,000 fishermen conducting fishing activities on Lake Victoria.
He said the project has also contributed to the control of illegal fishing, which has been costing the country billions of shillings for importing fish.
Deputy Executive Secretary of LVFO, Dr Anthony Taabu-Munyaho, stated that the project was important in improving management of fisheries resources and strengthening control on illegal fishing by building capacity among stakeholders in the region.
Dr Taabu-Munyaho said the steering committee meeting held for two days in Dar es Salaam was the second after the first meeting held last year.
Mr Onesmo Sulle, representative of Tanzania Industrial Fishing and Processors Association, was upbeat that implementation of the project would increase raw materials to the fish processing industries, thus boost production, employment and revenues to the government.
A research into fish stocks in Lake Victoria conducted in 2018 showed that 0.4 per cent of all the fish in the lake were of a reproductive age, and therefore unfit to be fished.
It was only 3.3 per cent of the stock that was fit to be caught. The government launched a crackdown on illegal fishing in November 2018. Available data shows that with improved management of fish resources across the ocean and lakes, fish stocks improved significantly.
