THE continuous stepping up of monitoring and patrolling of marine ecosystems are crucial as this plays a key role in preventing illegal activities such as overfishing, habitat destruction and pollution.

This is essential for the preservation of the health and biodiversity of marine ecosystems. Proper management ensures that fish stocks are harvested at sustainable levels, which is vital for the long-term viability of the fishing industry in any particular country.

This will, in turn, help in maintaining food security and livelihoods for communities dependent on fishing.

Enforcement measures are necessary to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. IUU fishing depletes fish stocks, undermines legal fishing operations and threatens marine biodiversity.

Rigorously and vigilantly overseeing the waters helps ensure maritime security by preventing piracy, smuggling and all manner of other illegal activities which, in return, could contribute to regional stability and safe navigation for commercial vessels.

Tanzania has been working hard with a view to enhancing the monitoring and management of its waters, particularly to combat IUU fishing but there are still gaps which might still be militating against them.

Initiatives like Operation Jodari, a partnership between the Tanzanian government and Sea Shepherd Global, have been instrumental in improving maritime security and enforcement.

Dr John Kareko, a marine stakeholder who has been involved in the building of the capacity of fishing communities in both Tanzania and Kenya, intimates that it has been especially difficult working with some Tanzanian stakeholders as at times they withhold key data.

Kareko recounts: “Fisheries is a very complicated sector. Even Kenyan officials have difficulty talking about it and, unfortunately, the situation is worse in Tanzania. There is always someone watching the stakeholders and investigating whatever they have to say.

“I travel quite often to Tanzania and back to engage with the communities on areas of improvement, but during my most recent travel I was nearly barred from entering the country. They have information on literally everything I do in the country, including where I go, who I talk to, and what I say.

“This makes things difficult for the people supposed to share even fish data. Some are afraid of approaching some of these offices.”

While there are organisations that might equally come in handy to help monitoring the state of IUU in Tanzania, due to the Chinese partnership with the government, they have been barred from offering such services.

“During one of my engagements, one organisation disclosed to me that they were willing to support monitoring efforts by installing cameras on the vessels but the government turned them down, saying that this will chase away the Chinese.

So, much as his efforts were well-intentioned, the idea was not accepted. Unfortunately, with Tanzania a developing country, the government overlooks a lot of what is going on for the benefits that they are getting from PRC,” intimates the marine expert.

Many Chinese and other foreign marine vessels install cameras for various purposes such as monitoring operations, enhancingsecurity and ensuring compliance with set regulations, nut the extent to which these cameras are used and the effectiveness of their monitoring capacity can vary.

Despite the installation of cameras, Chinese vessels have been associated with IUU fishing because vessels engaged in the operations might disable their cameras or other tracking systems to avoid detection.

Inconsistent enforcement of regulations and lack of coordination among authorities can also make it difficult to monitor and control IUU fishing activities.

IUU fishing remains a significant challenge, with both foreign and local vessels engaging in illegal activities.

The absence of a cohesive enough system to coordinate blue economy activities prevents efficient resource utilisation.

Limited access to advanced monitoring and enforcement technology, such as satellite surveillance and automated identification systems, hampers efforts to combat IUU fishing and other illegal activities.

Satellite surveillance can significantly enhance the monitoring and management of Tanzania’s ocean and other waters. Satellites provide real-time data on maritime activities, allowing the authorities concerned to monitor vessel movements and detect illegal fishing activities. This helps in identifying and intercepting IUU fishing vessels more effectively, including the fact of the ability to cover expansive segments of the respective waters found difficult to patrol with traditional methods.

This is particularly useful for Tanzania’s extensive coastline and Exclusive Economic Zone, at least in ensuring comprehensive surveillance.