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
Betrouwbaarheid van gegevensGemiddelde betrouwbaarheid

Laatst bijgewerkt juni 15, 2026

Geldend kader

  • §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)
Vergunning vereist
Vereist
Harpoengeweer
Verboden
Duikfles
Verboden
Buitenlanders
Welkom

De wet, woordelijk

Wetteksten

De exacte wettelijke en regelgevende bepalingen die speervissen hier reguleren, geciteerd zoals gepubliceerd, met een link naar elke officiële bron.

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)

ENOrigineel

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)

ENOrigineel

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)

ENOrigineel

(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)

ENOrigineel

(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)

ENOrigineel

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.

Wanneer je mag duiken

Seizoenen & tijdsbeperkingen

Gesloten, open en beperkte perioden door het jaar heen. Bevestig soortspecifieke sluitingen altijd lokaal.

Geen seizoenssluitingen geregistreerd — controleer lokaal voordat je duikt.

Toestemming om te vissen

Vergunning

Wat je nodig hebt om het water in te mogen, wat het kost en hoe je het krijgt.

Vergunning vereistvia 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.

Vraag je vergunning aan

Opent het officiële portaal · extremebluewaterspearfishing.com

Vergunning vereist
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.
Kosten
unknown
Geldigheid
unknown
Hoe te verkrijgen
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.
Autoriteit
Department of Fisheries Development, Zanzibar / Director of Fisheries (Mainland)
Officieel vergunningenportaal · extremebluewaterspearfishing.com

Uitrusting & techniek

Uitrustingsregels

Welke uitrusting is toegestaan, hoe die gebruikt mag worden en welke voorwaarden eraan verbonden zijn.

HarpoengeweerVerboden
DuikflesVerboden

Beperkingen

  • 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.

Wat je mag meenemen

Vangstlimieten & beschermde soorten

Dagquota, minimummaten en soorten die nooit gevangen mogen worden.

Daglimiet

unknown

Beschermde soorten — niet meenemen

  • BeschermdMarine turtles (green, loggerhead, leatherback, olive ridley)
  • BeschermdDugong
  • BeschermdWhale sharks
  • BeschermdDolphins and whales (incl. sperm whale, humpback whale)
  • BeschermdCoelacanth (Latimeria spp.)
  • BeschermdCorals (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.

Wie mag vissen

Bezoekers & inwoners

Hoe de regels verschillen voor buitenlandse bezoekers en lokale inwoners.

Buitenlandse bezoekers

Toegestaan

Speciale vergunning vereist

Vereisten

  • 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.

Beperkingen

  • 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.

Inwoners

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.

Waar aan de kust

Toegestane & verboden zones

Genoemde gebieden die open of gesloten zijn voor speervissen. Bekijk het volledige beeld op de interactieve kaart.

Toegestane gebieden

  • 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

Verboden gebieden

Op de kaart

Condities op het water

Live condities

Live mariene en weersmomentopname nabij een kustreferentiepunt in United Republic of Tanzania, van Open-Meteo. Condities variëren langs de kust — beschouw als indicatief.

Live mariene & weerscondities nabij Mafia Island Marine Park.

Condities

Wie je moet vragen

Autoriteiten

De officiële instanties die verantwoordelijk zijn voor visserij en vergunningen.

  • 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

Waar dit vandaan komt

Bronnen

Elke bewering op deze pagina is terug te voeren op een van deze referenties.

  1. [01]

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

    Officieel
    trade.tanzania.go.tzGeraadpleegd jun 15
  2. [02]

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

    Officieel
    tanzlii.orgGeraadpleegd jun 15
  3. [03]

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

    Secundair
    tanzanialaws.comGeraadpleegd jun 15
  4. [04]

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

    community
    extremebluewaterspearfishing.comGeraadpleegd jun 15
  5. [05]

    Mafia Island Marine Park - Wikipedia

    Secundair
    en.wikipedia.orgGeraadpleegd jun 15
  6. [06]

    Mnazi Bay-Ruvuma Estuary Marine Park - Wikipedia

    Secundair
    en.wikipedia.orgGeraadpleegd jun 15
  7. [07]

    Tanga Coelacanth Marine Park - Wikipedia

    Secundair
    en.wikipedia.orgGeraadpleegd jun 15

Notities van de onderzoeker

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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