SAFEGUARDING TANZANIA’S CORAL REEFS: THE CASE OF ILLEGAL BLAST FISHING

The document examines the prevalence and impact of illegal blast fishing in Tanzania, noting it is the only African country where the practice occurs on a large scale. It details the ecological destruction of coral reefs, the link between blast fishing and organised crime, and the failures of current legal enforcement. The author proposes a comprehensive strategy involving community co-management, stricter judicial penalties, and the integration of reef conservation into national development and climate adaptation plans.

• Tanzania is uniquely affected in Africa by large-scale blast fishing, with reports of 20–50 blasts per day in various coastal locations, including marine parks and reserves.
• A 2015 spatial assessment by the Wildlife Conservation Society confirmed 318 blasts over 2,692km of coastline, identifying the area near Dar es Salaam as the highest intensity hotspot, accounting for 39% of blasts within 50km of the city.
• Blast fishing causes severe ecological damage, killing all marine species within a 15–20m radius and potentially transforming reefs into rubble that takes decades or centuries to recover.
• While often appearing as opportunistic crime driven by unemployment, blast fishing in Tanzania is linked to transnational organised crime networks that source explosives from mining, demolition, and road construction enterprises.
• Legal enforcement is hindered by a lack of prosecutions and lenient sentencing that falls below the legal minimums established in the Fisheries Act of 2003, leading to community cynicism.
• The document recommends integrating coral reef conservation into national strategies, such as Tanzania’s Development Vision 2025 and climate change adaptation strategies, and suggests using Blue Carbon financing for protection.

APA

Chevallier, R. (2017). SAFEGUARDING TANZANIA’S CORAL REEFS: THE CASE OF ILLEGAL BLAST FISHING. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Policy-Insights-46.pdf

Chicago

Chevallier, Romy. SAFEGUARDING TANZANIA’S CORAL REEFS: THE CASE OF ILLEGAL BLAST FISHING. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2017. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Policy-Insights-46.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Chevallier |first1=Romy |title=SAFEGUARDING TANZANIA’S CORAL REEFS: THE CASE OF ILLEGAL BLAST FISHING |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=May 2017 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Policy-Insights-46.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{chevallier2017safeguarding, author = {Chevallier, Romy}, title = {{SAFEGUARDING TANZANIA’S CORAL REEFS: THE CASE OF ILLEGAL BLAST FISHING}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2017}, month = may, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Policy-Insights-46.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }