A Multi-Agency Task Team working together to end destructive blast fishing
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Blast fishing, also known as dynamite fishing, is a highly destructive, illegal method of catching fish which uses dynamite or other types of explosives to send shock-waves through the water, stunning or killing fish which are then collected and sold. Blast fishing can be lucrative: both from the sale of the fish caught and also from the trade of illegal explosives. Improvised explosive devices may explode prematurely and have been known to injure or kill the person using them, or innocent bysta nders. Blast fishing was first recorded in Africa in the early 1960s and while it has been brought under control in neighbouring countries it remains a huge problem in Tanzania. Blast fishing occurs along the entire Tanzanian coastline and often takes place within the coral reefs, biodiversity hotspots that provide local communities with food and attract international tourism. The blasts shatter the coral, destroying the habitat which results in drastic reduction in catches, affecting food secur ity. It also causes beach erosion as the reefs no longer provide protection from the sea. Coral reefs have failed to recover, even those blasted 40 years ago. Over the past 20 years several aid programmes provided funding for increased marine patrols, and with the help of the Navy blast fishing was almost eradicated - the withdrawal of the Navy in 2004, and the winding down of the donor support in 2005 blast fishing resumed once more. Although Tanzania has enacted laws and regulations against bl ast fishing, the current legal framework is outdated, there is weak enforcement and few successful prosecutions, hence no deterrent.