STATUS OF CORAL REEFS IN MARINE PARKS AND RESERVE UNITS IN MAINLAND TANZANIA

This survey was done between May 2016 and January 2017 under the South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Governance and Shared Growth (SWIOFish) with the purpose of assessing the status of coral reef ecosystems in four marine... [ view full abstract ]

This survey was done between May 2016 and January 2017 under the South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Governance and Shared Growth (SWIOFish) with the purpose of assessing the status of coral reef ecosystems in four marine protected areas (MPAs0 in Tanzania. Data was collected through three methodologies namely; (1) the Line Intercept Transect (LIT) method to assess benthic cover categories, (2); a 5 x 10 m belt transect method which was used for macro-invertebrates and (3) a 5 x 50 m belt transect for assessing fish density. Results indicated that hard coral percentage cover was 40% in Mafia Island Marine Park (MIMP) and lowest cover of about 25% in Mtwara and Ruvuma Estuary with significant difference in among MPAs (Kruskal Wallis test H, P < 0.011. Similarly, the coral diversity varied among MPAs showing significant differences whereby MIMP had the highest diversity. Rubbles present were mainly results of bad fishing practices in the MPAs, these included but not limited to dragnets or dynamite blasting. Fish survey showed that there is significant difference among MPAs (Kruskal Wallis’s test; P < 0.001) with MIMP having the highest diversity whereby damselfish was the most abundant (n = > 80%). Invertebrate community was dominated by class Echinoidea whose most members were sea urchins with significant difference among parks MPAs (Friedman’s test = 36.036, P < 001). The observed decline of coral reef necessitates the need for introduction of diversified livelihoods to compensate for intense resource extraction in the reefs thus to deter further decline.