66
Tanzania, with its 850-km stretch of coastline and numerous smaller islands including Zanzibar, is rich in fishery resources along its banks and coral reefs. Fishing plays an important role as a source of cheap protein and
employment. The number of full time fishermen operating in Zanzibar is 23,000 fishermen Lymo et al., 1997 and there are about 15,00 fishermen along the coast of Tanzania Haule and Kiwia, 1999. The per capita
consumption is 25-30kgperson Jiddawi and Stanley, 1999. The contribution of fishery to the GDP varies between 2.1-5.0 in Tanzania mainland and 2.2-10.4 in Zanzibar mostly form export of fishery products
Jiddawi and Ngoile, 1999. Tanzania exports marine fishery products amounting to around US 7652,700 for the mainland part and US598,203 for Zanzibar Jiddawi and Ngoile 1999. These products are shrimp, beche demer,
shells, lobster, crabs, squids, octopus, sardines, fish offal and aquarium fish. The fishery also supports a large infrastructure of supporting staff who make and repair boats and gears as well as marketing the fishery products.
3.3 Type of data and information gathered
A survey of the existing research publications reveals that there is a lot of work that has been conducted in Tanzania on fisheries covering a range of subjects from general fisheries information based on fishery constraints,
development and management issues. Fisheries survey using SCUBA and snorkeling techniques have been conducted mainly in coral reef areas along the coast of Tanzania and Zanzibar. Fisheries statistics data collected
from landing sites through monitoring programmes exist in areas such as Matemwe and Mkokotoni in Zanzibar, other areas includes Tanga and Begamoyo in the Coast region. The other type of data that exists is on resource
utilization and socio-economic information.
In general the type of data collected is in the from research reports both long and short term reviews, published journal papers and unpublished reports. Most of the studies are of short term and only provides baseline
information on the areas where the research was conducted. The majority of the studies are review studies.
3.3.1 Baseline studies
Out of 334 references on marine fisheries in Tanzania that were examined, 40 are baseline studies. Most of which were conducted in the 1990s and are mainly on monitoring of the fisheries resources, for example fisheries
resource of Matemwe and Mkokotoni Jiddawi and Stanley, 1997, 1999. This monitoring coved a number of aspects such as establishment of baseline information on the species diversity and abundance from the artisanal
fisheries. Others are the type and number of gear used, areas fished and catch composition in relation to tides, lunar periodicity and monsoons. The importance of specific species such as octopus fishery from Matemwe and
Mkokotoni has been reported in the same study Mhitu and Jiddawi, 1999.
In Tanga, fish monitoring has been conducted through the IUCN, Tanga coastal zone conservation project and development programme, and resulted in several reports Makoloweka et al., 1996. 1997, Horill et al., 1997.
One aspect of the study was aimed at obtaining baseline information on the state of the environment and the starting point for the development and analysis of management strategies Kalombo, 199. The study was initiated
in 1994 and is still ongoing.
Baseline and resource use studies have also been conducted in Bagamoyo. These studies were conducted in early 1997 and the results have been documented by several authors Mgaya et al., 1999; Semesi and Howell, 1999;
Semesi et al., 1998. and Msumi et al., 1999. The main objective of these studies was to understand the extent of the use of the resources and to generate baseline data on the resources for planning and future monitoring Semesi
and Howell, 1999. The work in Bagamoyo included directed work on the sea cucumber and mollusc fishery Mgaya et al., 1999. Other, short-term baseline studies have been conducted by students. These studies cover a
variety of topics such as the Dema trap fishery of Tumbatu which examined the effect of habitat on trap catches Horst, 1999, the fence trap fishery of Kisakasaka Myers, 1999 which also provide a list of species caught in
this fishery. Other topics include the large pelagic fishery of Nungwi Smith, 1994, Knox, 1999 and the
67
participation of women in fishery activities in Nungwi village in Zanzibar Coleman, 1998. Richmond and Mganwa 1994 conducted a study on large pelagics at Matemwe. The study is based on the outcome of the
donation of two engine powered sailing dhows by the Netherlands Embassy to two fishing cooperatives in the village. Prior to this the fishermen were using sail-powered outrigger canoes and simple fishing equipment. The
most interesting aspect of this study was that, the fishermen themselves conducted the monitoring exercise by completing a daily log book provided by the scientists daily on their catches. The project is still continuing and
several reports have been written Richmond and Mganwa, 1994, 1995, Richmond, 1999.
Fewer than10 MSc and Phd studies have been conducted. The studies focussed on providing information on specific fishery topics. For example, the biological aspects of Siganids and their mariculture potential in Tanzania
Mziray, 1983; the food and feeding habits of Indian mackerel from Zanzibar, Ndawula, 1985; the reproductive biology of the squid in the coastal waters of Zanzibar Mhitu, 1997; the dynamics of the trap fishery in the
coastal waters of Zanzibar Mgimwa, 1998; and the population dynamics of the small pelagic fishery in the Zanzibar channel Jiddawi, 1999. In Southern Tanzania several studies have been conducted on fisheries
resources in the area by FRONTIER. These studies provide information on fish species diversity in relation to the density and diversity of coral cover as well as providing a description of the main fishery activities in the area
Darwall et al., 1995, 1996a, 1996b; Guard, 1999. Frame surveys on fishing units and fishermen have been conducted mainly in Zanzibar by Ngoile 1982, Carrara
1985, Hoekstra et al., 1989 and Lyimo et al. 1997. The surveys establish the status of fishing effort in terms of number and type of gears, number and type of vessels, fishermen on foot and those operating using vessels. The
surveys thus establish the geographical concentration of the gears and vessels and also set up baseline information that could be used to compare current fishing effort with the past. This information is very useful in planning and
setting up fisheries development and management strategies. Muhando and Ngoile 1995 conducted a study on the nursery potential of mangrove ecosystems in Zanzibar. Amir 1997 and Ongera 1997 have conducted
similar studies. In addition to providing a list of fish species found in these areas, they have also conducted length-weight relationships of some of the most common commercial species.
3.3.2 Observational studies
