Tanga Marine Reserves

Every marine reserve has a corresponding bay, such as Tanga Bay and Kwale Bay for the Ulenge MR and Kwale Bay and Manza Bay for the Kwale MR. Moa Bay contains the town of Mwewe. Just to the north of Moa Bay is Kirui MR. The predominant characteristic of the bays and nearby shallow seas of the TMRs was seagrass beds. Turbidity, silt, and freshwater input from rivers appear to frequently alter the health of sea grasses in the Bays. Seagrass beds are more numerous and abound near Moa Bay and to the east of Kirui Island. Compared to Kwale Bay, where sediment mobility has a detrimental effect on seagrass growth, Manza Bay has more seagrass communities.^[1]

The Tanga Marine reserves have every species of mangrove found in Tanzania. Rhizophora mucronata predominated in wave-protected locations, while Sonneratia alba was the main tree seaward. There are no sandy beaches that are appropriate for tourists, and there are no known sea turtle breeding grounds in the TMRs.

Because of sedimentation, freshwater input, and an inadequate substrate for coral settlement, coral growth in the Bays is severely constrained. Kwale and Manza Bays included only a few, sporadic coral reef sections. Coral patches were discovered in Moa Bay's deeper area. On the seaward side of the Ulenge, Kwale, and Kirui Islands, continuous coral reefs were present. Kirui (26.728%, 37 coral genera) had the highest average coral cover and species richness, followed by Kwale (109.5%, 29 coral genera). Ulenge reefs had the lowest coral cover and species richness (5–7%, 16 coral genera).^[1]

According to a visual fish census, it was revealed that the eastern side of Kirui Island's reefs had relatively more fish stocks than the Kwale and Ulenge reefs, which had the lowest fish densities. In line with this, the catch for each unit of effort was higher in Jasini and Moa than in the area of Kwale and Ulenge Islands. According to interviews about trends in catch per unit effort, demersal (seagrass and coral reef) stocks are being overfished, but catch rates for pelagic stocks, like dagaa and mackerels, have not changed significantly.^[1]

The primary threats to fish stocks are the ongoing habitat destruction brought on by the use of dynamite and dragnets (beach seine and similar nets), as well as the overfishing of keystone species as a result of an increase in the population of fishers and collectors (driven by demand) who are allowed free entry into and around TMRs. This investigation made it very evident that the majority of fishing occurs outside of the Bays, on coral reefs, seagrass beds, and/or nearby deep waters. Where there is a combination of or interactions between mangroves, coral reefs, and seagrass beds, fish aggregations happen. Mangrove crabs, prawns, octopus, lobsters, clams, sea cucumbers, and shelled mollusks are a few of the edible invertebrates that can be found in TMRs.^[1]

Dugong sightings were reported in the Mbayae-Kigomeni area in 1994 and 2004, which is just east of Kirui Island and south of the Kenyan border. Less than 10 kilometres separate Ulenge Island Marine Reserve from Tanga Coelacanth Marine Park, where coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) are found and frequently caught in deep water.^[2] One possible special habitat is the shallow sea area that stretches from the south Kenyan coast eastward to Kirui Island and Moa Bay. Fish productivity is enhanced by the intricate interplay of mangrove impacts, large seagrass beds, and coral reefs in this zone. It is in this region that dugongs are supposedly thought to live in addition to being a significant fishing spot for fishermen in Kenya and Tanzania.^[1]