The State of Artisanal Fisheries in Southern Unguja: Governance, Conservation and Community

Fifty-one fishermen in the coastal villages of Kizimkazi Dimbani and Jambiani were interviewed to discover the current state of fishing in these areas. Each area has its own Village Fishermen Committees and those committees were also a subject of interest, interviewing their members as well as Fishery Department Officials to gain an understanding of how the committees function and their success. Results of fishermen interviews revealed a large number of differences between Kizimkazi Dimbani and Jambiani. Village Fishermen Committees were well attended by participants in both villages and seem to function as strong institutions within the communities studied. Kizimkazi Dimbani and Jambiani are both situated within the Menai Bay Conservation Area, and governed by its rules and regulations. However, enforcement is limited within this area and knowledge of the regulations is as well. The regulations that fishermen were aware of in each village perhaps reveal the most common illegal practices there. The perceived effectiveness of patrols differed largely between the two study sites, which was attributed to the fact that two of the three patrol boats for the Menai Bay Conservation Area dock in Kizimkazi Dimbani. Most fishermen noted that many illegal methods of fishing were still being used, causing damage to fish stocks. Potential policies to alleviate the problems identified through interviews are discussed using a broad definition of policy that includes the social, economic, and biological factors, which influence policy outcomes