SpearfishingMap

United Republic of Tanzania

Africa · Eastern Africa

Tanzania is a union of two legal jurisdictions with separate fisheries laws: Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar (Unguja and Pemba). On the Mainland, the Fisheries (Amendment) Regulations, 2009 (made under the Fisheries Act, Cap. 279) prohibit possessing, storing, selling or using harpoon guns and spear guns to fish (reg. 66(1)(c)), and prohibit using SCUBA / self-contained underwater breathing apparatus to capture fish or marine resources (reg. 66(1)(q)), although SCUBA may be used for 'sport fishing', live aquarium-fish capture, training and research (reg. 66(2)). Dive-industry sources report that sport (non-commercial) spearfishing is permitted in Zanzibar under the Zanzibar Fisheries Act, 2010, which bans spear/harpoon guns for commercial gain but allows licensed recreational sport spearfishing through a registered, government-authorised service provider with a specific sport spearfishing licence from the Department of Fisheries Development. All marine protected areas (marine parks and marine reserves) of both the Mainland and Zanzibar are closed to spearfishing. Because the Mainland regulation flatly bans possession/use of spear and harpoon guns 'except where authorised by Regulations made under the Act', anyone intending to spearfish should treat it as illegal unless they hold a specific written authorisation/licence.

Restricted
Fiabilité des donnéesFiabilité moyenne

Dernière mise à jour juin 15, 2026

Cadre réglementaire

  • §Fisheries Act, Cap. 279 (Mainland Tanzania)
  • §Fisheries (Amendment) Regulations, 2009 (G.N. under Cap. 279, Mainland)
  • §Marine Parks and Reserves Act, No. 29 of 1994 (Mainland)
  • §Marine Parks and Reserves (Prohibited and Regulated Activities) Regulations, 2006 (G.N. No. 128 of 2006)
  • §Zanzibar Fisheries Act, 2010 (Zanzibar)
Licence requise
Requise
Fusil harpon
Interdit
Plongée bouteille
Interdit
Étrangers
Bienvenus

La loi, verbatim

Textes juridiques

Les dispositions législatives et réglementaires exactes qui régissent la chasse sous-marine ici, citées telles que publiées, avec un lien vers chaque source officielle.

01Regulation 66(1)(c)Mainland Tanzania · national

Prohibited fishing gears and methods - harpoon and spear guns

Fisheries (Amendment) Regulations, 2009 (made under the Fisheries Act, Cap. 279)

ENOriginal

66.- (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in these regulations a person shall not- ... (c) posses, store, sell, use or cause another person to use harpoon guns, spear guns to fish;

02Regulation 66(1)(q)Mainland Tanzania · national

Prohibition on use of SCUBA to capture fish or marine resources

Fisheries (Amendment) Regulations, 2009 (made under the Fisheries Act, Cap. 279)

ENOriginal

66.- (1) ... a person shall not- ... (q) use self-contained underwater breathing apparatus or Scuba or compressed air breathing equipment of any kind to capture fish, marine invertebrates, aquatic flora or living marine resources.

03Regulation 66(2)Mainland Tanzania · national

Permitted uses of SCUBA - sport fishing, aquarium, training, research

Fisheries (Amendment) Regulations, 2009 (made under the Fisheries Act, Cap. 279)

ENOriginal

(2) Self-contained underwater breathing apparatus or Scuba or compressed air breathing equipment may be used for sport fishing, capturing of live aquarium fin fish, training and research purpose only.

04Regulation 66(4)Mainland Tanzania · national

Penalty for prohibited gears and methods

Fisheries (Amendment) Regulations, 2009 (made under the Fisheries Act, Cap. 279)

ENOriginal

(4) A person who contravenes this regulation commits an offence and on conviction shall be liable to a fine of not less than two million shillings or to imprisonment for a term of three years or to both.

05Regulation 67(1)-(2)Mainland Tanzania · national

Protection of rare and endangered species

Fisheries (Amendment) Regulations, 2009 (made under the Fisheries Act, Cap. 279)

ENOriginal

67.- (1) A person shall not fish, possess, process, offer for sale, market or export marine and fresh water species, any part or any product of the species recognised as being globally or regionally endangered as listed in the Third Schedule. (2) A person shall not fish, possess, process, offer for sale or market marine turtles, dugong, whale sharks, dolphins or any marine species recognized globally or regionally as endangered species listed in the Third Schedule.

Quand vous pouvez plonger

Saisons et restrictions temporelles

Périodes de fermeture, d'ouverture et de restriction tout au long de l'année. Confirmez toujours localement les fermetures propres à chaque espèce.

Aucune fermeture saisonnière enregistrée — vérifiez localement avant de plonger.

Autorisation de pêcher

Licence

Ce dont vous avez besoin pour être autorisé dans l'eau, ce que cela coûte et comment l'obtenir.

Licence requisevia Department of Fisheries Development, Zanzibar / Director of Fisheries (Mainland)

In Zanzibar, obtain a specific sport spearfishing licence from the Department of Fisheries Development (Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Zanzibar); foreigners must operate through a registered, government-authorised service provider. On the Mainland, contact the local Fisheries Office / Director of Fisheries regarding any authorisation.

Obtenez votre licence

Ouvre le portail officiel · extremebluewaterspearfishing.com

Licence requise
Type
Specific sport spearfishing licence (Zanzibar); on the Mainland, possession/use of spear and harpoon guns is prohibited except where authorised by Regulations made under the Fisheries Act.
Coût
unknown
Validité
unknown
Comment l'obtenir
In Zanzibar, obtain a specific sport spearfishing licence from the Department of Fisheries Development (Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Zanzibar); foreigners must operate through a registered, government-authorised service provider. On the Mainland, contact the local Fisheries Office / Director of Fisheries regarding any authorisation.
Autorité
Department of Fisheries Development, Zanzibar / Director of Fisheries (Mainland)
Portail officiel des licences · extremebluewaterspearfishing.com

Matériel et technique

Règles d'équipement

Quel matériel est autorisé, comment il peut être utilisé et les conditions associées.

Fusil harponInterdite
Plongée bouteilleInterdite

Restrictions

  • Mainland (reg. 66(1)(c)): possessing, storing, selling or using harpoon guns and spear guns to fish is prohibited.
  • Mainland (reg. 66(1)(q)): using SCUBA / self-contained underwater breathing apparatus or any compressed-air breathing equipment to capture fish, marine invertebrates, aquatic flora or living marine resources is prohibited.
  • Mainland (reg. 66(2)): SCUBA may be used for sport fishing, live aquarium fin-fish capture, training and research only.
  • Zanzibar Fisheries Act, 2010: spear/harpoon guns banned for commercial gain; recreational sport spearfishing allowed under a specific licence (per dive-industry sources).
  • All marine protected areas (marine parks and marine reserves) prohibit spearfishing.

The Mainland prohibition on spear/harpoon guns is general and not contingent on commercial purpose; the carve-out is 'except where authorised by Regulations made under the Act'. Combining a speargun with SCUBA would compound the violation. Treat speargun spearfishing as illegal on the Mainland absent specific authorisation.

Ce que vous pouvez prélever

Limites de capture et espèces protégées

Quotas journaliers, tailles minimales et espèces qui ne doivent jamais être prélevées.

Limite journalière

unknown

Espèces protégées — ne pas prélever

  • ProtégéeMarine turtles (green, loggerhead, leatherback, olive ridley)
  • ProtégéeDugong
  • ProtégéeWhale sharks
  • ProtégéeDolphins and whales (incl. sperm whale, humpback whale)
  • ProtégéeCoelacanth (Latimeria spp.)
  • ProtégéeCorals (blue corals, organ-pipe corals, black corals)

Fisheries (Amendment) Regulations, 2009 reg. 67 and the Third Schedule prohibit fishing, possessing, processing or selling species recognised as globally or regionally endangered, expressly naming marine turtles, dugong, whale sharks and dolphins; accidental captures of such species must be returned to the sea immediately and logged/reported to a fisheries office.

Qui peut pêcher

Visiteurs et résidents

Comment les règles diffèrent pour les visiteurs étrangers et les résidents locaux.

Visiteurs étrangers

Autorisée

Licence spéciale requise

Exigences

  • Operate through a registered, Zanzibar-government-authorised service provider (per dive-industry sources).
  • Hold a specific sport spearfishing licence issued by the Zanzibar Department of Fisheries Development.

Restrictions

  • Sport / non-commercial only; catch may not be sold.
  • All marine protected areas of Zanzibar and Mainland Tanzania are off-limits.
  • On the Mainland, the general spear/harpoon-gun prohibition applies to everyone.

Foreigner pathway is described by a dive operator interpreting the Zanzibar regime; not independently confirmed against the verbatim text of the Zanzibar Fisheries Act, 2010. Verify directly with the Zanzibar fisheries authority before diving.

Résidents

unknown

No resident-specific spearfishing licence regime was found in the consulted sources. The Mainland spear/harpoon-gun prohibition (reg. 66) applies to all persons regardless of residency.

Où sur la côte

Zones autorisées et interdites

Zones nommées ouvertes ou fermées à la chasse sous-marine. Voir l'image complète sur la carte interactive.

Zones autorisées

  • Tanzania territorial sea (outside MPAs), with sport licence

    Dive-industry sources (Extreme Blue Water Spear Fishing) report that licensed sport spearfishing is permitted within Zanzibar's internal waters and Tanzania's territorial sea up to 12 nautical miles, at locations including the west coasts of Pemba and Unguja, Latham Island, east coasts of Mafia, Okuza, Nyuni and Fanjove islands, and the east coast of mainland Tanzania - excluding all marine protected areas. This reflects an operator's interpretation of the Zanzibar game-fishing/sport-spearfishing regime, not a verbatim statutory zone.

    Sport (non-commercial) only; no sale of catch; foreigners must go through a registered Zanzibar-authorised service provider holding a specific sport spearfishing licence; all marine protected areas excluded.

    extremebluewaterspearfishing.com

Zones interdites

Voir sur la carte

Conditions sur l'eau

Conditions en direct

Aperçu marin et météo en direct près d'un point de référence côtier en United Republic of Tanzania, fourni par Open-Meteo. Les conditions varient le long de la côte — à considérer comme indicatives.

Conditions marines et météo en direct près de Mafia Island Marine Park.

Conditions

À qui s'adresser

Autorités

Les organismes officiels responsables de la pêche et des licences.

  • Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries (Mainland) - Fisheries Division / Director of Fisheries

    fisheries authority

    uvuvi.go.tzunknown

  • Marine Parks and Reserves Unit (MPRU)

    marine protected area authority

    marineparks.go.tzunknown

  • Department of Fisheries Development, Zanzibar (Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries)

    fisheries authority

    unknown

D'où cela provient

Sources

Chaque affirmation sur cette page renvoie à l'une de ces références.

  1. [01]

    The Fisheries (Amendment) Regulations, 2009 (made under the Fisheries Act, Cap. 279) - official PDF, trade.tanzania.go.tz

    Officielle
    trade.tanzania.go.tzConsulté le juin 15
  2. [02]

    Marine Parks and Reserves (Prohibited and Regulated Activities) Regulations, 2006 (G.N. No. 128 of 2006) - TanzLII

    Officielle
    tanzlii.orgConsulté le juin 15
  3. [03]

    Fisheries Act / Marine Reserves Regulations - Laws of Tanzania (tanzanialaws.com)

    Secondaire
    tanzanialaws.comConsulté le juin 15
  4. [04]

    Spearfishing Legality: East Africa (Tanzania & Zanzibar) - Extreme Blue Water Spear Fishing

    community
    extremebluewaterspearfishing.comConsulté le juin 15
  5. [05]

    Mafia Island Marine Park - Wikipedia

    Secondaire
    en.wikipedia.orgConsulté le juin 15
  6. [06]

    Mnazi Bay-Ruvuma Estuary Marine Park - Wikipedia

    Secondaire
    en.wikipedia.orgConsulté le juin 15
  7. [07]

    Tanga Coelacanth Marine Park - Wikipedia

    Secondaire
    en.wikipedia.orgConsulté le juin 15

Notes du chercheur

Tanzania is a union state with TWO separate fisheries jurisdictions: Mainland Tanzania (Fisheries Act Cap. 279 + Fisheries (Amendment) Regulations, 2009) and Zanzibar (Zanzibar Fisheries Act, 2010). VERBATIM Mainland law texts (reg. 66 and 67) were extracted from the official Government of Tanzania PDF of the 2009 regulations and confirm a general ban on spear/harpoon guns and on SCUBA capture of marine resources. The Zanzibar sport-spearfishing licensing pathway and the list of permitted/prohibited spearfishing locations come from a dive-operator source (community reliability) and could NOT be confirmed against the verbatim Zanzibar Fisheries Act, 2010 text (not retrievable in this session). The TanzLII page for G.N. No. 128 of 2006 returned HTTP 403 and the verbatim Marine Parks regulations text could not be captured directly. Marine-park coordinates are approximate park centroids from Wikipedia, suitable for map placement but not exact boundary geometry. No closed/open seasons specific to spearfishing were found. Recommended next steps: obtain the verbatim Zanzibar Fisheries Act, 2010 and the G.N. No. 128/2006 text, and confirm current Zanzibar sport-spearfishing licence fees and procedure with the Zanzibar Department of Fisheries Development before relying on the foreigner pathway. data_confidence=medium: strong, verbatim Mainland statutory basis but secondary/community sourcing for the Zanzibar permissive regime.

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