THE government of Zanzibar has expressed commitment to continue investing heavily in the blue economy to expand its growth as fish production increases.

Second Vice President for Zanzibar Hemed Suleiman Abdullah said this yesterday while tabling his office’s budget estimates for 2024/25 in the House of Representatives.

He said that in 2023 fish production increased to 80,085 tonnes worth 569.07bn/- up from 61,794 tonnes worth 391.37bn/- in 2022.

“This is an increase of 29.5 percent. Likewise, production of seaweed has increased from 12,594 tonnes in 2022 to 16,653 tonnes in 2023, equivalent to an increase of 32.2 percent,” he said.

He said that the government has continued to make efforts to set up institutional systems to make the sector support the economy of the people and the country as a whole.

Abdullah said that among the efforts is to have policies and laws that support development of blue economy activities, including the Fisheries and Marine Natural Resources Act and establishment of a research institute which has already been signed by President Dr. Hussein Mwinyi.

He said that the government has officially launched the blue economy policy along with its implementation strategy and fishing policy along with its implementation strategy.

“The government has continued to conduct research related to this sector to bring more reforms and development,” he said.

The second VP said in the financial year 2023/2024, the government planned to buy 4,380 tonnes of dry cloves at a cost of 60.4bn/- where as of March, 2024 a total of 3,298.8 tonnes of dry cloves were purchased from farmers at a cost of 47.5bn/- which is equal to 75 percent of the nine-month estimate.