Natural resource use sustainability: a case of Tanzanian fisheries of Lake Victoria

The study analyses the factors behind fishermen acceptance to reduce fishing efforts to allow fish stock regeneration in order to achieve sustainability in resource use, from a sample of 377 skippers fishing along Tanzania part of Lake Victoria. The study employs a simple Willingness to Accept - Contingent Valuation Method (WTA-CVM) framework estimated using Logit model and Powell's censored least absolute deviations (CLAD) estimator. The logistic estimates indicate that, the fishing experience, the existence of alternative sources of income, vessel ownership and family size are the significant determinants of fishermen willingness to accept compensation to quit Tanzanian fisheries of Lake Victoria, while opportunity cost of exiting fishery, level of investment, level of education of the fisherman, the effect of family tradition, and targeted species are insignificant factors. The CLAD estimates indicate that, opportunity cost of exiting fishery and vessel ownership are the significant factors that influence the stated amount of compensation by fishers who are willing to stop fishing to allow fish stock regeneration while the rest are insignificant factors. This implies that, a management strategy aiming at cutting down fishing efforts by reducing the number of fishers in the lake needs to use fiscal instruments together with other instruments to reduce the level of profits accrue to fishers. The money obtained through fiscal instruments targeted to the successful fishers who choose to remain in fisheries can be used to finance partly those who choose to quit fisheries.