Cristin-resultat-ID: 319375
Sist endret: 27. oktober 2009, 14:05
Resultat
Rapport
1996

Issues related to the establishment of prawn farms in Tanzania, with an example from the Rufiji delta

Bidragsytere:
  • Håkon Fottland og
  • Carol Sørensen

Utgiver/serie

Utgiver

Catchment Forestry Project, Forestry and Beekeeping Division, MTNR

Serie

Catchment Forestry Report

Om resultatet

Rapport
Publiseringsår: 1996
Hefte: 96.4
Antall sider: 36
Revidert utgave

Klassifisering

Vitenskapsdisipliner

Naturressursforvaltning

Emneord

Akvakultur • Skogforvaltning

Beskrivelse Beskrivelse

Tittel

Issues related to the establishment of prawn farms in Tanzania, with an example from the Rufiji delta

Sammendrag

1. The last few years have seen a number of private sector proposals to develop prawn farms within Tanzania’s mangrove forests. A recent proposal concerns a giant farm of more than 19,000 ha located in the Rufiji delta. The enormous scale of the proposal and the inadequacy of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS, Boyd 1996) presented by the developer have prompted this review to contribute towards evaluating the existing economic situation of the Rufiji delta and the probable impacts of this project on the environment and the people. 2. The estuary of the Rufiji delta is an integral part of a continuous and largely undisturbed gradient of ecosystems from the western woodlands of the Selous game reserve and the wetlands on the Rufiji river floodplain to the eastern coral reefs of the Mafia Island Marine Park. The delta consists of nine main distributary channels and includes woodland and mangrove forests, saline swamps, tidal marshes and elevated sandbanks. Mangrove forest covers 53,000 ha of the delta making this the largest continuous block of mangroves in East Africa. There are large mud banks forming outside the delta, and the enormous movement of water in the area accounts for the high productivity of this estuary. 3. This productive environment has been utilised in a complex but sustainable way over a very long period of time by the Rufiji people, basically relying upon fish, mangrove poles and rice for their living. These products form the three main strands of the local economy, supporting 33,000 people in 19 villages in the delta. The Rufiji delta is the most important wild prawn fishery in Tanzania, employing more than 3,000 artisanal fishermen. Other economically valuable fish are also caught and a total of more than 7,000 people make a living from fishing in the delta. 4. The present proposal for a prawn farm in the Rufiji delta includes possibly more than 9,500 ha of ponds, a hatchery, a feed plant, a processing plant, etc. This will expropriate 19,000 ha of the Rufiji Delta, including 11,000 ha of mangrove forest reserve, and establish a hatchery within a core protection zone of the Mafia Island Marine Park. Two registered villages and many scattered subvillages are located within the area where rice farmers, fishermen, fisherwomen, and mangrove pole cutters are conducting traditional and sustainable operations. However, the proposal ignores all of these activities, calling the area “virtually uninhabited”. Acidification and disease may cause the productive areas of the prawn farms, the ponds, to last for only 3-5 years leaving behind a desolate landscape of limited productivity. 5. Global experience with prawn farming indicates that developers can make large profits. These are however often realised due to externalisation of costs for highly productive land, for relocation of people (possibly more than 6000), for provision of alternative suitable rice growing areas, for loss of fish and prawn catches to fishermen (possibly more than 7000), for rehabilitating the area after the production has ceased, for compensation for tourism losses, and for mitigation of social and cultural impacts. This list is not exhaustive but such costs and issues are not considered in the EIS. 6. The report thus proposes to the Government a schedule for developing the prawn farming sector in Tanzania as follows. • Declare a prawn farming policy • Halt all currently proposed prawn farming projects • Establish a Masterplan • Conduct a hearing for the Masterplan • Establish a time-schedule • Draft conditions for concessions • Update tax-schemes • Develop or hire a professional and capable sectoral monitoring and auditing • Invite to international auctions of concessions 7. 8.

Bidragsytere

Aktiv cristin-person

Håkon Fottland

  • Tilknyttet:
    Forfatter
    ved Avdeling for forskning og utviklingsarbeid ved UiT Norges arktiske universitet

Carol Sørensen

  • Tilknyttet:
    Forfatter
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