Photo: Muhammad Mahdi Karim/Wikipedia Dodoma — Tanzania loses 220 million US dollars in revenue collection every year due to illegal fishing in deep seas, the National Assembly was told.
Mr Mohammed Rashid (Wawi-CUF) told the house that illegal fishing in deep seas is a serious problem that remains unchecked by the government and wanted to know plans to curb the vice. He made the revelation when asking a supplementary question to the Minister for Livestock Development and Fisheries.
Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives, Mr Adam Malima concurred that the government was currently losing a lot of revenues as a result of illegal fishing, but said that plans are underway to fight the problem. He agreed that at the moment the country does have the capacity to fight illegal fishing in deep seas.
Earlier when responding to a basic question by Ms Abia Muhama Nyabakari (Special Seats), Mr Malima said that between 2009 and 2012 a total of 223,000 fish were caught by tourists doing sports fishing on Lake Tanganyika. Ms Nyabakari wanted to know how many fish have been caught and how the industry has benefited the people of Rukwa over the years.
"There are five companies offering fishing services which have thus far employed 44 people in the region," he said. He further said that the five companies pay 20,000/- in licence fees annually and between 40,000/- and 60,000/- in transportation levy to Dar es Salaam by road.
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