Tanzania in new plan to raise fish harvest

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania is promoting advanced and modern fish farming techniques in an effort to raise harvests and consumption of the protein-rich products.

Currently, the country’s annual per capital fish consumption stands at 8.5 kilograms, but the plan is to raise this to 10.5 kilogram come 2025. Globally, it is estimated that the average per capita of fish consumption is 20.5 kilogram.

The director of aquaculture from the ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development, Dr Nazael Madalla, said Tanzania was implementing strategies to modernise fish farming so as to meet the growing demand.

Dr Madalla was a participant at the consultative meeting of the African Union (AU) Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) that brought together fisheries directors and other stakeholders from AU member states to Dar es Salaam. “Our fish per capita consumption is grossly below the global average because our production doesn’t reflect the growing demand that is associated with the growth of the population,” he said.

Dr Madalla said some of the modern fish farming techniques include pond system, tank system, cage systems and extensive fish farming. “The government supports exempting some of the taxes on fisheries inputs for the purpose of reducing investment costs. Through boosting these alternative fishing methods we will also reduce the pressure on our natural water bodies,” said Dr Madalla.

He said the strategies align with the global trends which estimate that over 50 percent of the consumed fish was from modern farming productions.

Gracing the meeting, the deputy minister for Livestock and Fisheries, Mr Abdallah Ulega said regardless of the fact that the sector was one among key contributors to the economy, there were still many challenges such as illegal fishing and overfishing.

“Fisheries sector is a profitable business and good investment on it can enable the growth of the economy at both individual and national levels. This is why we continuously encourage modernization,” he said.

Speaking at the event, acting director of AU-IBAR Dr Nick Nwankpa said the fisheries resource management and aquaculture development in AU was guided by national policies and legal instruments which were established mainly to regulate fishing practices.

“The effective and efficient application of international and regional instruments have a potential of significantly improving management of fisheries in the continent,” he sai