Blast fishing destroying Tanzania's marine habitats

The rich marine life off Tanzania's coast is coming under threat because of blast fishing - a technique using explosives that some fishermen use to maximise their catch.

''Blast fishing destroys the fish habitats under water where fish reproduce and that has had a big impact, especially on us who use ring nets to fish," a 32-year-old fisherman says.

"The number of fish has drastically reduced we are not able to catch many fish like before," he said as prepared his wooden boat to go fishing in the calm and beautiful waters of the Indian Ocean.

Small fishing vessels like his dot the coastline that hugs Tanzania for thousands of kilometres.

Fisherman who use ring nets say their catches have been affected .Some say they face intimidation if they report those using dynamite

             Coral reefs in peril

According to Smart Fish, a fisheries programme funded by the European Union, Tanzania is the only country in Africa where fishing using explosives still occurs on a large scale.

Although it is illegal, it occurs along the entire Tanzanian coastline, from Mtwara to Tanga, and off nearby islands. There have also been reports of blast fishing off north Zanzibar.

Baraka Mngulwi, the assistant director of the government's Fisheries Resource Protection department, says the explosives are often taken from mines and demolition and road construction firms, or made at home.

The explosives are usually lit with small fuses and tossed overboard.

The underwater shock waves produced by the explosion stun the fish, rupturing their swim bladders - the organ which helps control their buoyancy.

So they float to the surface and are then scooped up by waiting nets.

People find it difficult to identify which fish have been caught using explosives

Experts say one blast is enough to kill all fish and other living organisms within a 20m (66ft) radius - up to 400 fish can be netted in each explosion.

In the process, the underwater coral systems, home to countless marine species, are reduced into rubble.

Michael Markovina, a SmartFish officer, says coral reefs left in the wake of a series of blasts resemble a shelled city.

"If this illegal practice is not stopped, gradually Tanzania could easily end up with a wasteland of ocean," he says.

Damaged coral reefs lead to an instant decline in fish species diversity and quantity - and in the long-term the ecosystem is unlikely to recover.

Blast fishing in Tanzania:

• Began in the 1960s, was brought under control in the 1990s but has surged in recent years
• 25% of all marine species are associated with coral reefs
• Each blast kills all fish and other living organisms within a 20m radius, completely destroying the coral reef habitat and there is no natural recovery
• Explosives are cheap and easily accessible, usually sourced from mining, demolition and road construction enterprises, or made using artificial fertilisers and diesel
• Banned in 2003 with a minimum sentence of five years for dynamite fishing and 12 months for possession of explosives

Source: SmartFish

It is very difficult to track down the illegal fishermen because there is a very secretive and apparently sophisticated network in place.

A former dynamite fisherman, Mwanya Sleiman, who now campaigns against the practice says he lost both his hands in an accident."They were ripped off when an explosive I was setting up blew off in my hands. I used to light the explosives with fuses and toss them into the ocean," Mwanya Sleiman, 50, told the BBC.

READ MORE  (From BBC News-Africa)