Title: Assessment of the marine artisanal fisheries in Tanzania mainland

This study utilized available data sets from frame and catch assessment surveys from 1984-2011 to describe the marine artisanal fishery in mainland Tanzania. Results showed that catches have been fairly stable while fishing effort has been increasing, leading to a decline in catch per unit effort (CPUE). This could be attributed to population growth, poor fishing technology, use of non-motorized small vessels, and competition. Ring nets dominated the fishery in terms of catch landed per gear, and have been becoming more important to fishermen. Beach seines, and spears, which are declared illegal, have been increasing overtime. A linear regression analysis showed that fishers, vessels, gears, and catch value were significant variables in explaining the variations in landed catch over the time period (r2 = 0.7833). Dar es Salaam recorded the highest catch (p = 2.6E-06) because of better markets and facilities while the lowest was observed in Mtwara (p = 0.01126). The coast region recorded more vessels and gear types. The catch was also significantly different (p = 2.2E-06) across the districts within the five regions, with the Ilala district recording the highest. Average income was significantly high in Dar es Salaam (p = 0.008469) because of urbanization and concentration of economic activities. Two clusters of regions that were similar according to the species landed were observed. Coast, Tanga, Lindi and Dar es Salaam were similar in species composition whereas Mtwara was different with fewer number of species observed. Data collection, entry and analysis need to be done in a more consistent manner. Proper data collection, management, and analysis could also lead to the fisheries sector being more representative towards the GDP of the country.