During #OurOceanKenya, we had a productive meeting with a delegation from the United Republic of Tanzania, led by Prof. Mohammed Ali Sheikh, Deputy Permanent Secretary for Fisheries at the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries. The discussion also brought together senior officials across fisheries, aquaculture and marine resource management, with Samson Kidera from Kenya’s State Department for Blue Economy and Fisheries supporting the engagement.

The conversation was timely because many of the constraints discussed are familiar across East Africa. Tanzania’s fish market exceeds 715,000 tonnes annually, while domestic production stands at approximately 510,000 tonnes, leaving a supply gap of more than 200,000 tonnes each year. Aquaculture has strong potential to help bridge that gap, but growth is often slowed by limited access to quality fingerlings, feed challenges, gaps in technical capacity, fragmented farmer support, weak market coordination and value chains that are not always structured for investment.

Our model brings together the pieces that aquaculture needs to move from activity to scale. The Tanzania conversation was especially important because it touched both freshwater and marine opportunities, including cages, ponds, hatchery development and mariculture. 

It also reinforced the need for regional thinking. Farmers need more than inputs. Processors need more than fish. Governments need more than policy intent. Investors need more than opportunity. The sector grows when these parts are designed to work together.

As TAC continues exploring practical regional pathways, our focus remains clear: build aquaculture ecosystems that are commercially viable, technically supported, locally grounded and ready for responsible investment.

East Africa’s fish demand is growing. The real opportunity is to build systems strong enough to meet it.

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