Capture Fisheries
Oceanography
Aquaculture
Welcome to the TAFIRI Mwanza Center, one of the four centers of the Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute located in Mwanza Region. The Center was formerly part of the East African Freshwater Fisheries Research Organization (EAFFRO), by then a Research Institute for freshwater fisheries under the then East African Community. Following the dissolution of the community in 1977, the center was handed over to the Department of Fisheries, which by then was under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism until in 1983 when TAFIRI started operating. The Mwanza Center also manages the TAFIRI Sota sub-station, which is located in Rorya District, Mara Region.
The Mwanza Center conducts research in the Lake Victoria and its basin, and includes the salt lakes located in the Central Rift Valley of Tanzania. The research team at the Centre is multidisciplinary with expertise in limnology, fish biology and biodiversity, fish stock assessment, and fisheries management and aquatic ecology and ecosystem studies. Also, we have a strong expertise in aquaculture and social-economic and Marketing studies.
The Centre is equipped with a Limnology laboratory with all research necessary equipments to facilitate the analysis plankton (phyto- and zooplankton), water chemistry and nutrients, BOD, COD and microbial analysis in water samples. TAFIRI-Mwanza boasts two Research Vessels, RV TAFIRI II and RV Lake Victoria Explorer, which are a cornerstone of national and regional fish stock assessment surveys using hydro-acoustics.
In the aquaculture front, the Centre has two operational Concrete fish ponds mainly intended for rearing fish brooders, a small hatchery equipped with facilities for Tilapia and Catfish fingerling production, and small concrete tanks for growth and feed studies. The Centre is receiving a major boost in its infrastructure where the Government is currently constructing a much larger and state-of-the-art fish hatchery, a fish feed production plant, four new concrete ponds and nine concrete tanks to facilitate a breeding program and fish seed development and production. This effort is intended to support a booming aquaculture industry in Tanzania.
Remember, Lake Victoria is a natural laboratory of cichlid hybridization and adaptive radiation. I would like to therefore welcome you to TAFIRI Mwanza to work with us and enjoy the natural beauty of the lake and the rocky formations that harbour important species flocks.The Research Center will perform the following activities:-
- To co-ordinate and promote research activities within the Centre in collaboration with the Research Development and Coordination Directorate
- To undertake research activities on projects approved by the Institute
- To evaluate and recommend to the Institute applications for first issue or renewal of reserch clearance
- To play a leading role in assessing reesarch needs and possible sources of funding
- To develop and maintain research project and solicit funds for fisheries and aquaculture research
- To prepare budget estimates for the centre activities
- Effieciently and effectively manage resources of the centre
- Keep an up to date inventory of fisheries research activities at the Centre
- Establish a mechanism for planning, monitoring, contolling and coordinating fisheries research at the centre
- Carry out, and promote the carrying out of, enquiry experiments and reesearch on fisheries nd aquaculture
- Coordinate and facilitate supervision of field practical students, internships and volunteers at the centre
- Encourage and provide for staff training and development
- Provide administrative back-up to researchers and supporting staffs at the Centre and
- Prepare period reports on research and administrative matters of the centre
The Reserach Centre will be led by a Director
.