GCRMN_COI_2017-Western Indian Ocean Reef Status

Coral reef status report for the Western Indian Ocean (2017)
Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network
2.9.7 Responses
Management of coral reefs in Tanzania is tied to the management of fisheries, which is
controlled via licensing, policies and regulations, and marine managed areas. The ocean in
Tanzania is, in theory, open access for nationals, so everyone has a right to fish. All fishers and
fishing vessels are required to have a license but there are no quotas, so this is not restrictive.
With the exception of industrial fishers, there is effectively no control exercised on the number
of licences issued and the fees are quite affordable. Laws and regulations include gear-specific
regulations (e.g. mesh size for nets and basket traps, restriction of spearfishing), village level
or customary by-laws, and periodic closures of fishing in areas where need arises.
The legal framework in the country is founded on the Constitution of the United Republic of
Tanzania. National legislation of relevance to the reefs includes the: Fisheries Act of 2003;
National Environmental Policy (NEP, 1997) (the umbrella guiding policy on environmental
protection and management); National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP,
2015) as one of the requirements for the international Convention on Biological Diversity
(CBD); National Integrated Coastal Environment Management Strategy (NICEMS, 2003);
The National Tourism Policy (1999); National Environmental Management Act (2004);
The Zanzibar Fisheries Act (2010); the Marine Conservation Unit of Zanzibar Regulations
(2015); and the National Fisheries Sector Policy (2015).
International conventions relevant to the national legal framework concerning reefs include:
CITES - Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(1973) as many of the organisms found on the reefs are endangered; Bonn Convention -
Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (1979) as there are
several species of migratory animals associated with the reefs; UNCLOS – United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982); the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (2000),
which Tanzania accepted in 2003; and the Convention on Biological Diversity (signed in
1992, ratified in 1996).
NATIONAL CHAPTERS
The Fisheries Act of 2003 provides for the formation of village marine resource management
units, namely Beach Management Units (BMUs). In Zanzibar the equivalent of the BMU is the
Village Fishermen’s Committee (VFC). Collaborative Fisheries Management Areas (CFMA),
while not formally recognised in the legislation, are an approach that is gaining ground.
Mainland Tanzania currently has three Marine Parks and fifteen Marine Reserves established
and gazetted under the Marine Parks and Reserves Act. Zanzibar has increased the area
under conservation significantly (by over 10% with 4 established and 2 new MPAs and the
expansion of the Menai Bay Conservation Area and the boundaries of PECCA, the Pemba
Channel Conservation Area (to almost encircle the entire Pemba island).
The Tanzania Coral Reef Task Force (TzCRTF) was formulated after the regional Western
Indian Ocean Coral Reef Task Force (WIO CRTF) of the Nairobi Convention was established
in 2002. A secretariat was established at the National Environment Management Council
(NEMC) which caters for national roles and needs, while capacity building is handled by
the Vice President’s Office (VPO), and technical issues by the Institute of Marine Sciences
(IMS). A counterpart body, the Zanzibar Coral Reef Monitoring Network (ZCRMN) was
launched in 2014 under the Zanzibar Department of Environment (DoE) through its
Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) committee.
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