Keeping the Catch

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In the village of Kilwa Masoko located some 300 km southeast of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s capital, fishing is a lifeline of locals as it is not only a source of food, but also a source of income.

As wads of Tanzanian shilling exchange hands among fish famers and traders, the latter jostle to procure as much as possible of the limited amount of fish that is auctioned at Kilwa District’s old harbour.

The fish trade is big business, a sign that the local economy heavily relies on the fishing industry. Despite the daily struggle to line up at auctions for the catch of the day, local fish traders like Sheila Sijaona are buoyant.  

“Our livelihood depends on selling the fish; but with limited catch, everyone is tussling for a larger share to maximise profit,” said Sijaona.

“While fish is a major source of income, a lot of the fish is rotten due to lack of cold storage facilities and other infrastructure,” Gershom Abdala, a local fisher, told ChinAfrica.

The Kilwa Masoko Fishing Port project is expected to solve that problem. Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan recently laid the foundation stone for the port, which is set to drive forward the country’s blue economy. A project of monumental importance to the economy of Tanzania, the construction of one of East Africa’s first modern fishing harbours is expected to create over 30,000 direct and indirect jobs.

With a 1,400-km coastline and a 287,000-square-km exclusive economic zone, the East African country is endowed with rich marine fishery stocks, according to the Tanzanian government data.

Fisheries experts say infrastructure facelift including improved docking infrastructure, fish treatment equipment and ice-processing facilities, among others, can contribute to national development.

Infrastructure upgrade  

Despite its rich marine resources, sea fish accounts for less than 20 percent of the country’s fish supply, with the rest coming from inland fishing, according to the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries. The Tanzanian government says a lack of proper infrastructure is hampering fish production. Building a fishing port can be a game changer.

The fishing port in Kilwa District is being constructed by China Harbour Engineering Co. (CHEC), and is part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which seeks to promote global trade and connectivity.

As of the end of June 2023, China has signed more than 200 documents on jointly building the BRI with 152 countries and 32 international organisations, and milestones have been set in collaboration and people-to-people exchanges under the framework.

As Tanzania follows some of its neighbouring countries in capitalising on the vast potential of deep-sea fishing, the Kilwa Masoko Fishing Port project is poised to change the sector’s fortunes. The modern fishing port, scheduled to be completed in 2025, is expected to boost commercial fishing in sea.  

CHEC has said that the state-of-the-art harbour will create a number of advantages, including a refrigeration centre for fishermen to process and store their catch and a reliable market for locals by adding value via processing.

“After completion, we would like to see this port contribute significantly to the socio-economic development of Tanzania,” CHEC Project Manager Yao Huafeng recently said, adding that the harbour, which will be managed by the Tanzania Ports Authority, will also house fish processing plants and a workshop for repairing fishing ships and boats and making fishnets.

CHEC Tanzania Maritime Project Department recently revealed that the construction of the fishing harbour has provided jobs to more than 1,000 local workers, and an estimated 30,000 direct and indirect jobs will be created during the facility’s operation.  

Project Engineer George Kwandu said that once completed, the docking infrastructure will be big enough to accommodate all kinds of vessels. “We are also building a fish treatment refrigeration centre with a capacity of 1,300 tonnes,” Kwandu noted, adding that some of the fish will go directly to the fish market, enabling fishers to sell directly to the consumers.

As the port is expected to help to diversify the country’s fishing sector, the government projects it will raise the sector’s contribution to the country’s total exports, as well as national GDP, from 1.8 percent to 10 percent by 2036.  

“This pivotal milestone will the pave the way for immense economic development, job creation, and income generation for the coastal region and Tanzania as a whole,” Abdallah Ulega, minister of livestock and fisheries, recently stated.

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Waves of opportunities

Ulega said that once the port is operational, an estimated 5 million Tanzanians would derive their income from fishing and related activities, including boat manufacturing, net repair, fish processing, and various small-scale businesses. The minister added that as Tanzania positions itself strategically in the global fishing market, the country will expand job opportunities for locals and augment productivity for both small-scale and large-scale fishermen.

With hopes and aspirations riding high on the waves of the Kilwa Masoko Fishing Port, fish traders like Sijaona are optimistic about the new opportunities that will transform their way of doing business.  

“I expect the new harbour to connect our fishing business to the international market, and when we sell to other countries, our export income will increase immensely. Our lives will certainly change, as many new opportunities will come up in our fishing business,” Sijaona said with confidence.  

In Kilwa Kivinje, located 25 km from Kilwa Masoko, fishermen squeeze in a crowded wooden boat, catching fish with a humble net and selling the catch directly off the boat. This daily hustle has sustained them for generations for centuries.  

“I am excited that the Chinese-built harbour will boost our fisheries value chain, improve our household income and help us to contribute to the socio-economic development of our country,” said Juma Mahanje from Kilwa Kivinje.

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