Zanzibar

Extra dagaa on my pizza, please

Not everyone likes anchovies on their pizza. It is an acquired taste and one I have certainly not yet acquired. But I do love how its strong flavour can bring any sauce to life! It is not surprising that this versatile fish is enjoyed so differently in many parts of the world, although I do believe eating it raw as an aphrodisiac like the old romans has since fallen out of f(l)avour.

Zanzibar is not typically associated with pizza and less so for its anchovies. As an archipelago of islands off the east coast of Africa, conjured images of Zanzibar would rather include its exotic beaches, famous spice plantations and diverse culture and rich history. But often present in those tropic island pictures you’ll often find small-scale fishermen out at sea, bringing back catches of anchovies, locally referred to as dagaa, to be processed for local consumption and export to the local region.

Classified as an oily fish, the health benefits of anchovies are well documented. In addition to healthy omega-3 fatty acids, anchovies are a rich source of vitamin A, E and B3 (good for your cholesterol!) and filled with potassium and calcium. It is a healthy source for protein and will keep for a very long time as they are cured in brine and then packed in either salt or oil. Not surprising that the Ministry of Agriculture Natural Resource, Livestock and Fisheries (MANLF) set their ambitions on bringing Zanzibar’s anchovies to the international market and hopefully to a pizzeria near you.

The challenges

The anchovy has always formed the historic economic base for Zanzibar’s fishing sector. However, growing this industry to supply an international market comes with a host of challenges. Potential offset markets require certification systems to be put in place; certain food safety requirements needs to be ensured and documentation has to be presented proving sustainability, to name just but a few.

In October 2017 the government established the Zanzibar Fisheries Company (ZAFICO) with the purpose to conduct viable commercial fishing activities and to bring the fishing sector closer to the international market. Additional operational challenges soon became apparent, however, most pertinent was the low quality of products and high post-harvest losses as a result of poor handling procedures – both on board and at the land bases.

The Pilot

In ZAFICO’s view, the only way to address these challenges is to establish a traceability system to improve management of the anchovy value chain. Tracking the small-scale fishing vessels in real time would provide a wealth of data to ensure:

• a better understanding of the established fishing grounds;

• assist in the combat of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing;

• ensure conservation, responsible fishing and sustainability of fishing grounds; and

• most importantly – assist to improve the safety at sea of the small-scale fishermen.

A pilot project was initiated by ZAFICO with the expert support of exactEarth as part of a project kindly funded by the United Kingdom Space Agency (UKSA) under their International Partnership Programme (IPP). Using the exactTrax™ satellite service the real time tracking of small-scale fishing vessels would be evaluated over a period of 9 months running from May 2018 until February 2019.

The deployment process started with a sensitisation seminar attended by 55 participants, mostly captains and owners of vessels participating in the pilot. The heads of the three landing sites selected for the trial were also present and community participation was ensured by the attendance of the Shehia Fisherman Committees from all three these areas. During a second seminar fishermen were shown how to install and use the AIS transponders and training was provided towards its safety uses and associated procedures.

Key findings

Throughout the 9-month trial, ZAFICO arranged monthly seminars with the small-scale fishermen to solicit feedback related to their challenges and successes, but also to gauge their suggestions for improvements to the devices and service. Some of the key findings from the government’s perspective include:

• tracking allowed MANLF to identify the primary fishing grounds for anchovies and maps could be produced for the small-scale fishermen;

• studies on these fishing grounds assisted in expanding the fishing areas and thereby reduce the risk of overfishing; and

• demonstrated that traceability improves quality standards and is the foundation for improved conformance to international market requirements.

Valuable Impressions and feedback from the fishermen include:

• vessel owners valued the ability to track their vessels at all times;

• practical suggestions how to improve transponder housing and reliability; and

• validated that moving the transponder to an integrated solar panel solution would be greatly beneficial.

Future steps

The use of the exactTrax™ technology and AIS transponders clearly proofed themselves to form the cornerstones of a traceability system for Zanzibar’s international anchovy aspirations. Just as important however, the pilot demonstrated the importance of the human element, in particular increasing trust between vessel owner and captain, value of local community involvement and pro-active government support.

More data clearly leads to improved governance and management of marine resources. ZAFICO is looking forward to advocating the use of the traceability technology to the rest of the vessels involved with small-scale and artisanal fishing. And we are certainly looking forward being part of Zanzibar’s ambition to bring their anchovies to the international market.

I may even consider having some of these on a future pizza ….