Dar es Salaam. Tanzania’s drive to expand its blue economy is placing mounting pressure on thousands of small-scale fishers, with a new human rights report warning that many coastal communities are losing access to traditional fishing grounds, threatening livelihoods, food security and fundamental rights.
The report argues that while the country has made significant strides in promoting the sustainable use of marine resources, economic development, conservation initiatives and industrial investments are increasingly competing with the rights of artisanal fishers who have depended on the sea for generations.
Published jointly by the Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG) and the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC), the report, Human Rights, Small-Scale Fishers and Their Access to and Management of Marine Resources in Tanzania, draws on findings from Mtwara, Lindi and Tanga, where researchers engaged 247 participants, including fishing communities, government officials and other stakeholders.
It concludes that despite the critical role played by small-scale fisheries in supporting employment, food security and local economies, many fishing communities remain vulnerable due to weak governance, shrinking access to marine resources and limited protection of their rights. According to the report, artisanal fisheries provide more than a source of income. They underpin the social, economic and cultural fabric of Tanzania’s coastal communities through fishing, fish processing, trading, seaweed farming and boat building.
However, these livelihoods are coming under increasing strain from declining fish stocks, climate change, pollution, illegal fishing, industrial fishing fleets and expanding blue economy activities, including tourism, offshore gas exploration, mining and marine conservation projects.
The report notes that Tanzania has established an extensive legal and policy framework governing fisheries and marine resource management through the Constitution, the Fisheries Act, the Marine Parks and Reserves Act, the Environmental Management Act and the National Blue Economy Policy.
Yet it says implementation remains inconsistent, leaving many coastal communities without adequate safeguards as competing interests over marine resources intensify.
One of the report’s central concerns is the absence of secure fishing tenure.
Although Beach Management Units (BMUs) have strengthened community participation in fisheries management, many small-scale fishers still lack clearly recognised rights to their traditional fishing grounds, exposing them to displacement when new investment or conservation projects are introduced. The report warns that restrictions on access to fishing areas should not be viewed simply as administrative or environmental matters but as issues with significant human rights implications.
It says the loss of fishing grounds can undermine the rights to work, food, participation in decision-making, cultural identity and an adequate standard of living, while in some cases exposing communities to displacement without sufficient safeguards. Environmental degradation is further worsening the situation. The report identifies overfishing, destructive fishing practices, marine pollution, weak enforcement of fisheries laws, corruption, inadequate scientific data and poor institutional coordination as major obstacles to sustainable fisheries management.
Climate change is adding to these pressures through rising sea levels, coastal erosion, changing fish migration patterns and increasingly unpredictable weather, making it more difficult for fishing households to sustain their incomes.
The report also highlights inequalities within the fisheries sector, noting that although governance structures exist, women, fish processors, fishing crews and other marginalised groups continue to have limited influence over decisions affecting marine resources.
At the same time, many fishing households remain outside formal social protection systems despite facing recurring economic shocks and climate-related risks.
While acknowledging progress in tackling destructive fishing methods, particularly dynamite fishing, the report says more needs to be done to ensure that economic development does not come at the expense of the rights and livelihoods of coastal communities.
It recommends strengthening legal recognition of fishing tenure, guaranteeing preferential access to traditional fishing grounds, improving compensation and livelihood restoration where displacement occurs, expanding social protection, enhancing fisheries data systems and ensuring greater participation of women and local communities in decision-making.
