Abstract
Dynamite or blast fishing remains the most pervasive destructive fishing method in the coastal waters of Tanzania. It constitutes a major threat to small-scale fisheries through degradation of reefs and other critical habitats for fish. The Tanzanian Government has implemented several measures including a high rate of patrols and surveillance campaigns in the sea to try to deter the use of dynamite in fishing. However, most of these measures have failed to reduce its occurrence over the past years. Little is known on why existing management measures are failing to generate effective solutions to address dynamite and other forms of destructive fishing activities. This study was undertaken to examine perceptions of fishers on the persistent recurrence of dynamite-fishing activities within the present fisheries’ management regulations. A random sample of 180 individual fishers was interviewed in two coastal districts using a household survey questionnaire. Key informants, semi-structured interviews and participant observations were used to collect additional data. Almost two thirds of survey respondents felt that an apparent recurrence of dynamite fishing is attributed to the inconsistencies of the fisheries management approaches deployed to thwart the use of dynamite. However, other factors such as absence of appropriate organisation of the many involved actors, kinship ties and migrant fishers played crucial role on the persistence of dynamite fishing. There was a common perception among all survey participants that lack of trust and transparency towards and within anti-dynamite initiatives negatively impacted the involvement of fishers in their efforts to reduce the use of dynamite. An improved situation where decision-making processes are coordinated among fishers, non-governmental and governmental stakeholders is important to support ongoing management measures, in order to increase legitimacy and long-term success of efforts to get rid of destructive fishing practices among small-scale fishers in Tanzania.
Highlights
Humans have been the primary drivers of the changes in the coastal marine environment (Lotze et al, 2006; Crain et al, 2008; Sale et al, 2008; Waycott et al, 2009) and are expected further to exacerbate pressures on coastal ecosystems (Boldt et al, 2014; Jiao et al, 2015; Lucas and Smith, 2016)
Dynamite fishing has been experienced in Tanzania since the 1960s and it was declared illegal in the 1970s it has continued largely unabated since that time (Guard and Masaiganah, 1997; Wells, 2009; Braulik et al, 2015b)
The research was guided by the following questions: why do fishers still resort to dynamite? Are there any internal mechanisms coastal communities might employ to discourage the resumption of dynamite fishing? this study aimed to unravel what social interactions, if any, can be used to persuade communities whose livelihood takes place in an environment of dynamite activities, to shoulder efforts with government and other fisheries stakeholders such as community-based fisheries organizations and local Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to halt these activities
Summary
Humans have been the primary drivers of the changes in the coastal marine environment (Lotze et al, 2006; Crain et al, 2008; Sale et al, 2008; Waycott et al, 2009) and are expected further to exacerbate pressures on coastal ecosystems (Boldt et al, 2014; Jiao et al, 2015; Lucas and Smith, 2016). Several studies (Costello et al, 2010, 2012; Coll et al, 2016) show that fishing presents one of the greatest human pressures on marine ecosystems, and one of its main threats is through destructive fishing techniques (Dayton et al, 1995; Watling and Norse, 1998; Wilkinson, 2004; Mak et al, 2005; Fox and Caldwell, 2006; Benn et al, 2010; Fenner, 2014; Petrossian, 2015). A study on the status of destructive fishing activities in the Pacific Islands showed that by the early 1980s, nearly half of the cases on reef degradation were related to damage from explosives and poisons (Veitayaki et al, 1995). 100 blasts were recorded during one 6-h period at Mpori Reef in the same year (Francis et al, 2002)
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