By Our Reporter
Tanzania is turning to digital data collection to establish the number of fishers and map their activities along the Indian Ocean coast, as the government prepares to conduct a nationwide fisheries and aquaculture census this month.
The exercise is expected to provide reliable data to guide fisheries policies, improve management of marine resources and strengthen environmental conservation, particularly in coastal communities that depend on fishing for their livelihoods.
The Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries will conduct the 2026 Fisheries and Aquaculture Census through the Tanzania Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture Management Project (TASFAM), covering fishing landing sites in Tanga, Pwani, Dar es Salaam, Lindi and Mtwara regions.
Bahero Adhio Salim, chairman of the Deep Sea Fishers Association in Tanga City Council, said the shift to a digital system would help move the country away from outdated data collection methods towards an internationally recognised approach.
Speaking on October 15, 2026, after association leaders and fishers were briefed on the exercise, Mr Salim said the census would help authorities establish the number of people engaged in fishing and understand the nature of their activities.
“I will advise and encourage fishers to cooperate with the government. This exercise will also bring benefits in terms of environmental conservation,” he said.
Reliable information on the number of fishers and their activities is expected to help authorities better understand the sector and develop policies and guidelines based on the actual conditions of fishing communities.
The census will use the Fisheries and Aquaculture Information Management System (FAIMS) to register enumerators and collect information from fishing landing sites along the coast.
Ezra Katete, a fisheries officer with Mkinga District Council in Tanga Region, said practical training had been conducted to prepare supervisors and enumerators for the exercise.
He said the census was important because its findings would inform the development of policies and guidelines for regulating fishing activities.
Mr Katete urged all stakeholders to participate, stressing that the success of the exercise would depend on the accuracy and completeness of the information collected.
He also called on enumerators to ensure that they captured all the required details, saying reliable data would provide a sound basis for decisions on fisheries management.
The census is being implemented in phases, beginning with training for supervisors and enumerators. The exercise was officially launched in Bagamoyo District, Pwani Region, where training took place from October 5 to 7, 2026.
The process is being coordinated by the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries in collaboration with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Training is currently being conducted at fishing landing sites across the five coastal regions, focusing on registering enumerators in the FAIMS system and equipping them with the skills needed to collect the required data.
Once the training is complete, ministry officials, working with local government authorities, will begin the census.
The exercise is being conducted under the theme: “Accurate Fisheries Data, the Foundation for Sustainable Fisheries Towards the National Development Vision 2050.”