GCRMN_COI_2017-Western Indian Ocean Reef Status

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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. 140
Coral reef status report for the Western Indian Ocean (2017) Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network Coral reef monitoring in Tanzania has evolved since it started in the 1980s (see Daffa, 2001, Muhando, 2008). Methods have been refined and the workforce decentralised. Several international and local conservation and donor agencies/organs have been involved, as well as the private sector, research institutions and government departments responsible for marine resource management. Zanzibar’s reefs have had the longest monitoring record, with reefs off Zanzibar Town, namely Bawe, Changuu and Chapwani having been monitored since 1992. Methods are based on standard protocols (English et al. 1994) although for a short period the Reef Check method was used by community rangers in Tanga. Over the last decade there have been small scale coral restoration (e.g. near Dar es Salaam harbour as part of climate change mitigation activities) and artificial reef initiatives (Reef Balls in Jambiani, Zanzibar and artificial reefs made from scrap items by fishing groups and used as fish aggregating devices in Bagamoyo). These are still in their infancy and their effect, permanence and potential for expansion is not yet clear. 2.9.8 Discussion Coral reefs in Tanzania, as in the rest of the region, are under great stress, both from anthropogenic activities and from natural factors such as extreme or sudden and prolonged changes in environmental conditions, rough sea conditions, diseases, predator outbreaks and natural competition for space and food. Management of these reefs depends on detecting changes in health status, and this is accomplished by regular monitoring, using standard protocols. Unfortunately, monitoring programmes in Tanzania depend on donor or other funding for implementation. On a positive note, coral reef monitoring has evolved from initiatives by academic institutions, NGOs and projects, to Government-funded monitoring within marine protected areas (MPAs). Coral reef health (as shown by live coral cover) has fallen over the last 30 years, and recovery from individual impacts has been slow. Nonetheless, levels of coral cover are comparable to other sites in East Africa. Phase shifts towards algal dominated reefs have not occurred in many places, even after the major bleaching event of 1998. The 2016 bleaching event, though very severe in other regions, had lower than anticipated impact on Tanzania’s reefs. It may be that resistance gained from previous bleaching, early onset of the southeast monsoon and the start of the cool season may have helped the bleached corals to recover. Macro-invertebrate densities on the reefs are on the low side, probably due to overexploitation. Recovery of these organisms is likely being hampered by continued exploitation. Fish abundance was highest in 2008 perhaps due to the the mass bleaching in 1998, which led to coral mortality and algal dominance, on which herbivorous fish thrived (Lindahl et al., 2001). The long term history of high coral mortality (in 1998), recovery to near-original conditions for most sites and resistance of some sites to renewed bleaching indicates that these reefs may be resilient to climate change (e.g. McClanahan et al., 1999, 2009) and should be a priority for future conservation actions. NATIONAL CHAPTERS 141
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