Chumbe Island’s Sustainable Seafood Guide

While we are serving seafood as part of our delicious meals on Chumbe Island, we also want to make sure that our ocean remains healthy. That is why Chumbe Island Coral Park (CHICOP) has created a Sustainable Seafood Guide to assist the Chumbe team, the tourism sector, and individuals in making better-informed decisions about their seafood choices.
While we are still in the process of creating an updated guide, you can access the current version of the seafood guide here:
Chumbe’s Seafood Guide

Sustainable Seafood

The demand for seafood in Zanzibar is rising due to increased tourism and a growing population, but overfishing can be a danger for the marine environment. To find a balance that can sustain both marine life and the livelihoods of fishers as well as meet the demand, sustainable practices are necessary.

Fishing endangered species is of course unsustainable, but there are a number of other factors that also play a role. These include for example the fishing method, the fishing location, the size of the seafood, its age of maturity and eating local.

Chumbe’s seafood guide

The CHICOP team started by introducing guidelines for its own seafood supply and has been using these for many years now. In order to raise awareness and promote better decision making among our partners in the tourism sector, as well as inform our guests, CHICOP shared its first sustainable seafood guide. This guide uses three categories (green, yellow, red) for easy guidance, and also includes some stories from fishers who share their experiences.

Creating a new guide

Now, in 2023, the Chumbe team is working on a project to enhance and update our existing seafood guide. As part of this, a survey in the Zanzibar tourism sector was conducted to gain insights into the local seafood trade. CHICOP is currently collaborating with partners in the Ministry of Blue Economy and Fisheries to gather data and compile all the necessary information for the creation of a new, more scientifically-driven version of the guide. Once completed, the new guide will be available for free on our website, in both English and Swahili.

Awareness and trainings

Next, the Chumbe team will organize training sessions with hotels and restaurants in Zanzibar to introduce them to the guide and raise awareness about sustainable seafood practices. Training workshops with 35 seafood suppliers, ranging from local oyster collectors to international lobster traders, took place in June 2023.

Through this sustainable seafood project, CHICOP aims to shift consumer demand in Zanzibar towards a more sustainable seafood supply, thereby contributing to the protection of marine life’s diversity, health, and beauty.