Trade liberalization and the exploitation of crustacean resources in Tanzania

This study addresses the problem of overfishing of crustacean resources and their possible depletion in Tanzania. As an open access resource with uncontrolled exploitation including the use of dynamite, extended number of hours of fishing and increased fishing effort will ultimately lead to habit destruction and over exploitation. Overfishing also threatens certain species which in the worst case can lead to extinction. This in turn will result in reduction of genetic diversity. Trade liberalization which opened up trading opportunities in fisheries increased fishing pressure of worst is the destruction of their habitats and failure to reproduce fast enough to counter the effects of overexploitation. The study employs the bioeconomic model a a1 Schaefer Gordon to estimate the yield curve (catch-effort curve). Also the demand function is run to capture the variable that is important in the economic liberalization, i.e number of tourists. Despite the fact that crustaceans are consumed mostly by tourists and largely exported, the government has shown little effort to conserve the resource. As evidenced from this study, fisherfolk are highly motivated by high prices offered in the market. Coupled with improved technology and the use of destructive methods such as dynamiting there is a likelihood of overfishing.The major findings of this study are that price of crustaceans and number of tourists do influence the demand for crustaceans. Similarly number of effort has significant influence on total catch. From these findings, suggestions on long run management are made.