Impacts of Artisanal Fishing to the Livelihoods of Small-Scale Fishing Communities in Lake Victoria in Ukerewe District, Tanzania

Abstract

Fisheries play an important role in the livelihoods of riparian communities in Tanzania. However, changes in biodiversity and commercialization of the sector in recent decades have adversely affected fishing communities. Most studies on the sector have focused mainly on the biological and technical aspects and less on the socio-economic impacts of these changes to local communities. This paper analyses the impacts of Nile perch fishery to small scale fishing communities in Lake Victoria using a case of selected villages in Ukerewe district. Specifically, the paper examines profitability of Nile perch fishery to small scale fishing communities and its contribution to household income and non-income poverty reduction in comparison to other fishery. A cross section survey was employed to collect primary data from 140 respondents using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive analysis included the use of means, percentages, and cross tabulation using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Gross margin analysis was used to examine profitability of Nile perch and other fishery to small scale fishing communities. Results show that Nile perch fishery was far more profitable than fishery of other species. Comparison of means using paired T-test indicated that profit from Nile perch fishery significantly exceeds that of other species. Results further indicate that Nile perch contributes significantly to household income by 59% for fishers, 62% for traders and 40% for processors. While more than half of respondents have good quality houses and can afford health services, majority of them are food insecure. It is concluded that Nile perch fishing has an important role in reducing both income and non-income poverty, hence the need to promote more pro-poor policies to improve livelihoods of small scale fisher communities.