Nigeria: Onion Seedlings As Fish Food?

Onion farmers in Jigawa State are said to have faced difficulty in the last farming season following the acute scarcity of onion seedlings in the market. The seedlings became scarce after fish farmers discovered their importance in fish farming and therefore bought them in large quantities to feed their fish. Following the two phenomena - fish farmers and poor weather (excessive rain) conditions - the onion seedlings become a scarce commodity and the price soared by over 200 percent.

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Editor: There's obviously a lot of information missing from the article from which the above snippet was taken. Are the onion seedlings given directly to the fish for them to chew on?! Or are do the seedlings and the fish exist in some sort of aquaculture-type symbiosis? Inquiring readers would have liked to know!

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Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/how-fish-farmers-bad-weather-hampered-onion-farming-in-jigawa.html

Senegal: fish farming breathes new life into rural economy

by Koffigan E. Adigbli

July signals the beginning of three months of intense activity for residents of the seven villages around the small dam at Sébi Ponty. The dam was stocked with tilapia in 2006, and aquaculture is proving to be a vital economic activity for youth in the area.

In October, fishing in the dam will be forbidden for two or three months to allow stocks to reproduce before another period of harvest from December to February.

The dam - 500 metres long, 400 metres wide and around four metres deep - was stocked with 17 tonnes of tilapia hatchlings five years ago. According to the ANA (Senegal's National Aquaculture Agency), it now yields 50 kilogrammes of fish per day during the twice-yearly fishing season. The operation is handled by a cooperative enterprise involving 300 local youth.

One of those pulling in the nets, 20-year-old Pape Ndaw, says that since the dam's rehabilitation in 2006 by the local department of agricultural engineering, many families have come to depend on the fishery.

'In addition to aquaculture, this pond also serves diverse agriculture and livestock activities in the area,' Ndaw said. 'I earn more than 120,000 CFA francs (around 270 dollars) per month when there's a good catch. I'm supporting my elderly parents as well as my own young family.'

Ndaw said the work at the dam is his only employment. 'But during the off-season of two or three months in order when the fish are allowed to reproduce, I keep myself busy with poultry at the house.'

Anita Diagne Diouf, 30, says the fishery offers real alternatives to the area's young people who often respond to the high cost of living by joining an exodus towards the capital, Dakar.

'We [the women] are the vendors of fish products… We share the income and get the same amount as the men,' Diouf told IPS. 'During the off-season, when the men work with animals or repairing nets ahead of the new fishing season, we turn to winnowing grain and doing maintenance on the livestock pens.'

Aquaculture, according to Awa Guèye, the official representative of the youth employed at the pond, first of all meets the food needs of families, and secondly provides a source of income.

'Previously, women were forced to go as far as Rufisque, more than 20 kilometres from Sébi Ponty, to get fish to cook,' she said.

According to experts at the ANA, however, the dam has several obstacles to overcome, including training for users, improved availability of equipment for the fishing cooperative, and better access to credit. But the chief challenge is the co-existence of various users.

The president of the dam's management committee, Amadou Camara, explains that in addition to fish, the pond plays an important role in horticulture and livestock rearing.

'The market gardeners use water from the dam. The herders bring their animals here to drink, especially during the dry season. This often creates tension between us, the managers of the dam, and the herders or farmers,' he said.

One worrying sign of poor coordination amongst users is that the dam is filling with sand. Mamadou Ngom heads an ANA unit focused on popularising and improving the value of dams like Sébi Ponty's, and he says siltation could threaten the dam's role as an economic pillar for this area.

'This problem is caused by overexploitation of the water; the market gardeners in the area have to stop pumping water for irrigation,' Ngom told IPS.

'Add to this the lack of fishing gear, of proper conservation of the fish, and of access to finance for the operators… The fishing cooperative needs canoes, nets, and screens to prevent the fish escaping, especially during the flood period,' he said.

Babacar Ndao, the national minister with responsibility for small-scale water reservoirs, says the government will soon begin dredging sand from the dam. 'We are aware that the dam is a multipurpose one, used at once by gardeners, herders, subsistence farmers and aquaculturists, hence the urgency of clearing it out in order to sustain it,' he says.

Ndao says that the practice of drip irrigation, which helps farmers make more efficient use water, will be introduced with development assistance from Israel.

'Further, the government will launch a programme to improve the equipment and reinforce training of the various classes of users.' he added.

Inter Press Service

Kenya puts its faith in fish farming

by Mark Tran

Lake Victoria provides more than 90% of the country's total fish supply, but dwindling stocks have pushed up the price of fish in western Kenya, where almost 60% of households are dependent on fish as a source of income, either directly or indirectly.

The ponds form part of a Kenyan government initiative to push aquaculture – a successful concept in Asia – so it can provide an alternative to small farmers who are scrabbling to eke out a living from the poor soil. But through a cruel irony, the current drought that has devastated the Horn of Africa, with more than 12 million people requiring emergency food aid, threatens to scupper efforts to promote aquaculture, at least in the region around Kisumu, Kenya's third largest city.

The fish harvested were less than 100 grams instead of 250 grams – "dinner plate size" – to fetch the best prices. But with the ponds rapidly drying up, the fish had to be harvested in November otherwise the harvest would have been totally lost.

The hope is that the megapond of 80 square metres, 3 metres deep, will serve not only as a giant fish tank but as a reservoir for the smaller ponds of 30 square metres. The big pond, holding 20,000 fingerlings, took 40 days to dig, and involved four men and 96 women. In Kenya, women seem to do much of the agricultural work, from fetching water to digging terraces and irrigation pits

The drought is no joking matter. The government's aquaculture scheme, announced in 2009, but which got going only last year, depended heavily on a good first successful harvest that would generate enough income for farmers not only for them to buy food and pay for their children's school fees, but to buy the stocks and feed for the next eight-month cycle.

Now, however, the local authorities are worried that last year's premature harvest may have deterred farmers from pressing ahead with fish farming. The government provided fish stock on a one-time basis, but after that farmers were on their own.

Abigael Achayo, 57, is undeterred. One of the beneficiaries of the government's scheme, she sees fish farming as a better alternative to traditional farming. "I think it is better than crop farming, crops can sometimes fail, this offers more security," she said.

The area around Kisumu, which has a population of 3 million, suffers from a high poverty rate. About 70% of the population live on less than $1 day, partly because HIV and Aids hit so many families. Small-scale fish farming is seen by the Kenyan government as a way to boost economic prospects, not just in western Kenya, but throughout the country.

Initially, 160 out of the country's 210 constituencies were identified for government-backed ponds. Each was awarded 300 ponds making a total of 48,000, with each pond getting either 1,000 fries (tadpole size) or fingerlings and fish feed.

The scheme has run into teething problems. There was only one hatchery of any size, an American company, Dominion, from which to get supplies – and it could not meet the huge government order. Cronysim was another problem, with local bigwigs insisting they get their ponds, even though their land was not suitable. Some soon lost interest as fish farming is far from straightforward; it is a highly technical business.

The right fish feed – pellets that contain soya, sunflower oil, cotton oil and amaranth – is expensive. Feed for an eight-month cycle costs $340, which is a lot for a small farmer already struggling to make ends meet. Apart from the expense, the farmers needed know-how. The aquashop concept was designed to spread the expertise and training that novice fish farmers needed.

Owaka, besides being a pond owner, is one of the six aquashop owners in the region. His shop stocks feed, nets and twine, which can be stretched across the ponds to fend off birds such as pelicans, which are one of the main predators. Snakes and thieves make up the other predators. Out of 1,000 fish, a farmer is doing well if they can harvest 800.

The Guardian

High-rise tank is new solution in farming fish

by Arthur Max

Adri Bout trawled Dutch waters for 25 years until he recognized the ocean's limits. Now he raises 100 tons of turbot a year in a unique high-rise tank that has overcome some of farmed fishing's most persistent problems.

"I knew 20 years ago there is an end. When you keep fishing like this, the North Sea will be empty," he says.

When he started out, Bout knew nothing about aquaculture.

Turning to neighbors and books for advice, he ran into headaches that plague enclosed farms like his: The fish suffered disease epidemics, he spent a fortune on energy to pump and heat water in his tanks, and he had to dispose of the fish waste without befouling the surrounding area.

"We did everything by the book. But the books were wrong," he said.

Bout, 55, represents a pioneering breed in an industry seen as increasingly crucial to the world's need for food stability while the oceans' capabilities are dwindling. And as the crisis of the oceans becomes clearer, the term "sustainable farming" is gaining as much resonance for the sea as for land — and is just as difficult to achieve.

Nearly half the fresh and sea water fish on the market is grown in cages along coasts, in lakes, or in tanks on land — some of them inside factory-like buildings with gleaming silver pipes and whirring water pumps.

In the West, aquaculture is the new agribusiness. In 35 years, it has grown from a tiny specialty of small farmers to a largely corporate-controlled 52 million-ton industry worth nearly $100 billion in 2008, the last year for which the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization has figures. The FAO says the world will need another 30 million tons a year within 20 years.

But it comes at an environmental cost. As the global business exploded in the 1970s, coastlines and mangrove forests were destroyed to make way for open sea cages, and the waste dirtied the waters for miles around. Some fish would escape, spreading pathogens and weakened genes among wild populations.

Like industrially grown cattle or chickens, some fish were raised in overcrowded and filthy tanks, wallowing in their own feces. Whether raised on land or at sea, the fish were dosed up with antibiotics against diseases rampant in unsanitary conditions.

Bout was unusual in his willingness to lose vast sums of money with his trial-and-error methods — killing tens of thousands of fish in the process.

Three years ago he took his turbot out of the standard meter-deep (three-feet) square concrete tank and put them in his experimental eight-tiered system. Each tier is a U-shaped fiberglass "raceway" 64 meters (210 feet) long with 15 centimeters (6 inches) of water and a swift current that sweeps away excrement and uneaten food pellets.

Bout uses gravity to circulate the water eight times an hour — traditional farms change water once hourly — running it through cleansing filters each time it drops to the level below. He says his electricity costs are one-quarter of a similarly sized farm that uses standard tanks.

He also doesn't let organic waste go to waste. While other farms flush water back into the sea laden with untreated feces, he oxidizes it for plant fertilizer or food for shellfish.

He discovered that disease-spreading bacteria thrive in water above 16.5 Centigrade (61.7 Fahrenheit), a temperature turbot can tolerate but is too cold for other ocean fish like bass or bream, which he once raised but abandoned. The fish grow more slowly in cool water but are free of disease, and Bout says he has not used medication for eight years. He also found that with cleaner the water the fish ate less, but grew faster.

"Don't ask me why," he shrugged in an interview at Seafarm, his installation above the Oosterschelde estuary in southern Netherlands. "I'm a technician, not a biologist. I look for solutions."

His next project is raising sole, finding a profitable formula. "You can think about sustainability. But you have to make money," he says.

Bout "is exceptional ... an innovative thinker," says Margreet van Vilsteren of the North Sea Foundation, which assesses the ecological impact of fish farms around the world. "The last step, I think, that has to be taken is to control the food that is given to the fish."

Turbots, sold more commonly in restaurants than for home consumption, are flat, bottom-hugging saltwater fish that, when not feeding or agitated, lie still, clustered on top of each other, stirring only occasionally.

His system does not work for other kinds of salt water fish in tanks, which require warmer water to grow. Nor can it be used for salmon, the most popular farmed marine animal, and other fish like cod which are raised in open net systems in the sea.

But new methods are continually being developed. The salmon industry in particular "got a lot of things wrong. In recent years there has been a significant improvement," said Dawn Purchase, of the British-based Marine Conservation Society.

Not long ago, salmon were raised in densely packed cages and heavily medicated. Now, vaccines administered individually to young fish have cut the need for antibiotics by 90 percent, said Purchase, who monitors salmon farms in Scotland.

Producers also have learned that reducing the density in the nets lowers stress. "Stress affects the taste and quality of the flesh. It releases stress hormones," she said.

But rather than ease the pressure on fishing, the need has grown for wild caught fish to feed carnivorous high-value animals like salmon, bass and turbot. Even mixing soy and other cereals into the feed, it takes 1.1 kilograms (2.4 pounds) of ocean fish — mainly small anchoveta — for each kilogram (2.2 pounds) of salmon. Eventually, even this abundantly available fish will become scarce unless the laws of sustainability are applied.

More than a quarter of all fish caught in 2008, topping 27 million tons, was used for nonfood products, mainly for fish meal or fish oil to feed farmed animals, the FAO said. Some of it goes to barnyard animals, like cattle and pigs, because it is still cheap.

It's wrong to see aquaculture as the solution to overfishing, says Farah Obaidullah, an oceans campaigner for the environmental group Greenpeace. "We have serious concerns with the current way that aquaculture is developing."

Fish are still being overmedicated, and not enough is being done to find alternative feed, she said.

Even if growers are aware of environmental concerns, they are often ignored for the sake of profit. "We're talking about short-term gains. There is a huge demand out there for seafood products, and there's money to be made."

Environmentalists agree that feeding farmed fish remains the industry's most serious problem.

"No sustainable source (of food) exists yet," said Van Vilsteren, the North Sea Foundation analyst. But she hoped that within five years researchers will develop a plant-based food to supplement, if not replace, caught fish.

Purchase, speaking by phone from Scotland, said another key was to stop wasting food.

"When we're chewing up fish to make fillets or fish fingers, let's make sure that all those trimmings are actually going in to make fish food."

Associated Press

Zambian farmers try aquaculture

by Sanday Kabange Chongo

After retiring from the Zambia Police Service in 1997, Kester Imata Mumbela thought of investing his retirement funds in cattle rearing and farming. But due to livestock disease that gripped the region several years ago, Mumbela lost all his 159 cattle he had bought to begin his retirement dream.

Left with no hope and source of income amid rising food prices, Mumbela tried another kind of business that is lucrative and requires less input -- fish farming. The desperate but determined ex-serviceman took advantage of two huge ditches left behind by road contractors.

Mumbela says, "I requested help from [local road contractor] Konco. When they extracted the river sand they left a pit which I turn the pit into a fish pond. I requested the Environmental Council of Zambia to make a stream from the Ngwezi River to bring the Zambezi fish into the pond."

The Department of Fisheries helped him purchase fingerlings, which come from red breasted breams (Tilapia Rendalli), green head breams (Orechromis Machrochir) and the three spotted breams (Orechromis Andersonii).

Today, his fish farm is supported by the government-backed Agriculture Support Program that operates through the Department of Fisheries. It's backed by the World Bank's International Development Association, Swedish International Development Agency – SIDA, and United Kingdom's Department for International Development – DFID.

The program has been training rural residents on how to earn income with fish ponds. So far, nearly 5,000 households have been reached. They're taught how to choose suitable fish varieties, and how to care for the fingerlings.

Ghanaian government to partner with Chinese company on aquaculture project

The Ghanaian government in collaboration with a Chinese company is investing in large scale fish farming in the Western Region.

This was disclosed by the Minister of Fisheries Mrs Gladys Asmah at the recent inauguration of the Eastern Region branch of the Fish Farmers Association at Koforidua. She said already over 2,000 acres of land had been acquired at Asemasa near Beposo to start the project.

China is the world’s leading exporter of fish with annual export value of over $50 billion, mainly from fish farming with the main exportable cultured fish being tilapia which originated from Ghana.

Mrs Asmah said over the last two years, the Ghana government has invested over GH¢1.5 million into the fishery sector, which has made it possible for quite a number of fish farmers to benefit from inputs and credit scheme. The Minister said many fish farmers had benefited from pond construction, fish seeds and fish feed credit.

Mrs Asmah said that recognised fish farmers’ associations stood a better chance of benefiting from schemes established by her ministry and also having easy access to credit from financial institutions.

The regional chairman of the association, Mr Samuel Afum Ankrah called for the establishment of hatcheries to enable fish farmers to easily get access to fingerlings.



Ghanaian Times

Fish supply falls behind demand in Nigeria; imports out-compete domestic fisheries

At an annual increase of 10 percent, local production of cat fish in Nigeria cannot be said to be stunted. But in the last eight years that cat fish farming has maintained this steady growth, many people have wondered why it does not force down its price in the market.

A recent market survey shows a kilogram of fresh cat fish selling for N500. This is almost three times the price of 'Titus,' an imported variety of fish in the market. Compared to what it has been in the last three years, the price of the local variety has remained static, while there are indications that the imported options like Titus, mackerel, croaker and so on might continue to decrease in price.

For Foluke Omotayo Areola, president, Fishery Society of Nigeria, FISON, this is not a happy development. As well as being the henchman of the fishers' society, Areola is an assistant director at the Federal Department of Fisheries, FDF, an agency under the Ministry of Agriculture. She said that in the last few years, both government and FISON have been quite busy in trying to bring down the cost of fish, by boosting local production of cat fish in the country from its current 80, 000 metric tons per annum to five times the current capacity.

“The demand far outstrips the supply,” she said, adding that owing to many forces from instability in the local economy and import pressure, their target has been quite difficult to meet.

Fish accounts for 40 percent of protein intake in the country. Even at that, local fish farms account for 20 percent of total local production of fish in the country. The picture is grimmer still. Current fish demand in the country is put at 1.5 million metric tons per annum. Of the sum, 1.1 million metric tons are imported, thereby resulting in the country incurring a bill in excess of $241 million annually.

Policy experts believe that such money if put into fish production in the country would greatly stimulate the economy. This has been the reason why government, especially at federal and state levels have placed premium on growing local fish farms. Decidedly, the choice has been cat fish on account of its nativity to the country. In the last eight years, government effort might well have yielded success. From a previous 30, 000 metric tons annual production of cat fish, fish farmers in the country now gross a total of 80,000 metric tons per annum. But this is hardly enough considering the total demand in the country.

Fish farmers in the country groan that the cost of producing cat fish in the country still remains high. Chiefly, standard fish feed, despite efforts by several agencies to have them produced locally, have remained largely elusive. In the last few years, FISON says it has partnered with the European Union to set up fish millers in the country with little success.

“Aside from Chi Farms, there are only a few fish millers in the country without much success due to the huge capital outlay involved in fish feed milling,” said Areola. For the growing need of farmers, Chi might not be able to cater for the demand of fish feed in the country. Largely, fish farmers use locally sourced alternatives to groom their fishes. But in the long run, the alternative proves inadequate. Farmers say that the imported variety float in the ponds allowing fishes to see the food. This is not so with the local ones which sink to the bottom of the pool, denying fishes of their meal.

Business Eye

What can be done to save Egypt’s commercial fishing sector?

By Ali El Bahnasawy

Yields are decreasing for Egypt's fishermen.

In the beginning, no one knew why fewer and fewer fish were being caught. But now, a few years later, everyone is asking the same question: How can the fisherman continue to survive when there are simply no more fish?

Overfishing is the term used to describe the decline in an adult fish population so dramatic that there are not enough fish to breed and restock the population. While the problem varies from one place to another, and is more pronounced for certain types of fish like tuna and sardines, the over-exploitation of fish in any location affects the ecosystem of fisheries across the globe.

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) states that 52% of world fisheries are fully-exploited — any more fishing in those areas would severely damage the ecosystem. In fact, 17% of those fisheries are already over-exploited. The main reason behind the overfishing is the size of the world’s fishing fleet, which at four million vessels is two to three times as big as required, according to the FAO. The FAO has urged countries to impose bans on catching certain species and introduced off-season periods in some areas.

The overfishing problem is a serious one for Egypt’s fishing industry. In fact, the Mediterranean Sea, which forms a crucial part of the local industry, is considered one of the regions where fish stocks are in greatest need of recovery, according to FAO studies.

Saleh Ismaeil, Red Sea regional director at the Egyptian Agency for Developing Fishing Resources (EADFR), regrets the opportunity Egypt missed to protect its seas earlier. “Overfishing affected the natural fisheries remarkably,” says Ismaeil. “There was a real necessity to impose the off-season period, as we’re doing now.”

Even with nearly 14 million acres (surface area) of salt and fresh water in its territory, Egypt is facing a remarkable decline in fish production from its natural fisheries (as opposed to man-made fish farms) as a result of overfishing during the last decade.

This decline is putting more than 90,000 fishermen, 4,490 fishing vessels and over 35,000 other fishing boats into what is perhaps the worst period of the industry’s history. As a result, many fishermen are turning away from the sea and taking their chances with inland aquaculture, or freshwater fish farming, a sector of the fishing industry that has recently gained momentum.

Egypt’s annual consumption of fish reached approximately 1.2 million tons per annum in 2006. While certainly a large number, at 13.67 kilograms consumed per person, it is actually less than the international average of 14 kilograms. This global average is expected to increase in low-income countries that have access to natural fisheries: China, for example, consumed 28.4 kilograms per capita in 2004, a number that is expected to grow.

The low consumption levels in Egypt are a result of inadequate production: 971,000 tons, or LE 9.3 billion worth of fish, was processed in 2006 — a very small number compared to the world’s total fish production, which reached nearly 142 million tons the same year. In the global fishing industry, natural fisheries are considered the number one source of fish. In Egypt, however, the yield from natural fisheries is declining.

The Red Sea’s fish production decreased from 82,400 tons per annum (TPA) in 1999 to 46,940 TPA in 2006. The Mediterranean saw substantial declines as well; production went from 89,943 TPA to 72,666 TPA over the same period, with the share of saltwater fishing accounting for a minimal 12.32% of total fish production in Egypt. Even natural protectorates like Lake El-Burullus, which occupies nearly 460 square kilometers, did not escape the dramatic negative trend in production: The annual catch at the lake fell from its peak in 2002 of 59,785 tons to 52,956 tons in 2006.

This decrease in domestic production has resulted in a roller-coaster ride for fish imports. In 2001, imports mushroomed to 261,430 TPA, before falling to 207,564 TPA in 2006.

“We sell imported Chinese and Thai fish and shrimps now; the Egyptian products are not enough,” says Mahmoud Ashour, sitting on a high stool and writing the revenue of the day’s selling in a huge logbook. Ashour, who manages the finances of Monir Abu-Ghaleb, one of the biggest retailers of fresh seafood in Egypt, has spent the last twenty-five years of his life working in the industry. These days are some of the worst for the fishing sector in Egypt, he says with regret: “The craft is dying now.”

In 2006, Egypt imported 207,564 tons of fish from countries like Indonesia, China and Thailand, at a cost of nearly LE 593 million. Compare this to 2005, when Egypt spent only LE 523 million importing 188,524 tons of mostly shrimp and squid, products that have almost disappeared from Egypt’s fisheries.

From Ashour’s point of view, the main reason behind overfishing is the fact that fishermen sometimes use illegal methods. “For a while, fishermen used insect powder for fishing,” Ashour says. “They throw it on the water and five minutes later the fish float dead to the surface. Back then, when we entered the market, the scent of the powder was very strong in the air.”

Not only was poison used to catch fish, but nets called el-shabah (the phantom), came into use. Because these nets have very narrow holes in the mesh, they collect everything from the sea floor, including fingerlings (baby fish). This has resulted in lower production over recent years: Catches from natural fisheries this year are at their lowest levels since 1999.

This scarcity of supply has pushed prices up; fish that used to be sold for LE 4 three years ago are now sold for double, while fish previously sold for LE 11 are now sold for LE 17.

Ashour, however, thinks that imported fish both looks better and is cheaper. “If we sell local shrimp for LE 70 per kilogram, the imported ones will be sold for only LE 55 and what is important is that people like it,” he says. Ashour believes that only an expert can distinguish the difference in taste between local fish and imported frozen fish collected months before.

Prices of the vessels are another problem fishing ship owners face today. As the boats travel long distances, the price of diesel, which has also recently increased, matters as well. In a day, a medium size (28-meter) ship will consume 10 to 15 barrels of fuel, topping 400 barrels in a regular one-month trip.

“One barrel costs LE 220. The state should subsidize our diesel. When I was working in Europe, the state did that for fishermen,” says Abdouh,a ship owner, expressing his frustration.

A month-long fishing trip using trawling techniques will cost Abdouh a staggering LE 150,000 just for food and fuel supplies. He does not have this amount of money on hand, so he borrows the money from one of the retailers at Al-Obour fish market in Cairo. By lending ship owners the money, Al-Obour retailers gain the exclusive right to sell the ships’ catches to fish markets and small shops all over the country. “I stand beside the retailer who starts an auction on my fish,” says Abdouh. “At the end I take the money and the retailer takes 8% of the total selling amount.” It certainly sounds like a good business situation for all, but the truth is another matter.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea states that every country has the right to establish the breadth of its territorial sea up to a limit not exceeding 12nautical miles or 22 kilometers from its shore. The law comes with a few exceptions for countries such as Somalia, one of the few territories that has an exclusive economic zone extending 370.5 kilometers from its shoreline, where only Somali ships are allowed to fish.

Forced by the need to repay their debts, however, Egyptian ships are violating this exclusivity and breaking international law.

Illegal fishing is giving Egyptian ships an unwanted reputation, resulting in states like Eritrea and Yemen arresting Egyptian ships that are only passing through the waters of the Horn of Africa. “Many sailors have been shot by the coast guard in these countries, but what can we do? We have to pay the retailers,” says Abdouh.

At present, out of the entire official Egyptian fleet of 4,490 powered boats, only 10 permits to fish overseas are awarded annually, according to Ismaeil. But the number of permits available is something the EADFR cannot control, as it is dependent on agreements negotiated between the Ministry of Agriculture and other countries.

China, the world’s biggest producer of fish — with 47.5 million tons in 2005 and nearly 13 million fishermen — found a different solution to the problem of overfishing. The country introduced a national program in 2001, focusing on preparing fishermen for other jobs. By training fishermen for industrial jobs and jobs in aquaculture management, China managed to reduce the number of fishermen by 13% between 2001 and 2004. Other countries with large numbers of fishermen like Vietnam and India have also started similar programs.

In Egypt, where the economic reform program focuses heavily on industrial sector jobs, copying the Chinese model certainly seems like a good idea. Mutual assistance from foreign aid programs and the government could save tens of thousands of families from increased dependence on fishing, while at the same time preserving fish populations from overexploitation. However, there is no sign the government has plans to begin a similar program soon.

Tracing its origins to China some 4,500 years ago, aquaculture, or aquafarming, is the process of raising salt or freshwater fish in containers or ponds. Having only begun its efforts in this field in the early 1980s, aquaculture is now the main source of fish production in Egypt, representing 61.2% of total production in 2006.

Growing rapidly, production in the aquaculture sector jumped from 56,599 TPA in 1997 to 498,885 TPA in 2006. By identifying districts that are close to fresh water sources and have high soil salinity that impairs agricultural activity, fish farming was a win-win solution for landowners.

According to EADFR reports, a typical aquaculture project should be no less than five acres to be profitable, with a tank size of at least two acres and a maximum of ten acres. The depth of any tank should be 1.85 meters at its center.

In an industry that is reaching crisis point as a result of overfishing in natural fisheries, aquaculture seems to be the most viable option for the sector’s success in the future. However, private sector investors will ultimately need to step into the industry and help it transform from one currently dominated by small-scale producers to one characterized by larger enterprises. Larger investments would give the industry the needed structure and access to funding necessary to modernize, grow production and improve productivity.

The private sector may also consider what is currently a missed opportunity in the industry — farming the sea, or what is known as mariculture. This involves using cages in the sea or tanks to farm saltwater fish species as well as shellfish. As the natural stocks of specific species decline, mariculture farms are more conducive to farming expensive species like shrimp, crab and lobster. This type of production of high-end, high-cost species has proved successful in countries such as China, Thailand, the US and Japan.

There are certainly risks and higher costs involved in mariculture, but Ismaeil believes it is worth the attention of the private sector. “Now we need to fish farm the sea,” he says. “This will require a huge investment and more advanced technology than in fresh water, but it will pay back well.”

The government should ultimately take a more active role in promoting the industry, by identifying missed opportunities and encouraging investment. One venture in this respect might include quantifying available fishing locations along coastal regions and allocating them for private investment, as is done with land-based development projects. The government could also provide training and job-matching services for investors, helping thousands of fishermen move from the sector to other industries. This would provide labor for some of the economy’s faster-growing sectors, while alleviating pressure on the already exploited natural fisheries.

One of the government’s most important tasks, however, would be the more stringent enforcement of restrictions on overfishing. This would decrease the country’s reliance on fish imports over the short and long-term through allowing fish populations to recover. This is not only a question of economic gains: It is in no one’s interest to let the seas become a wasteland. bt

Business Today Egypt

High fish demand in DRCongo creates aquaculture opportunities

Give a woman a fish, she will eat for a day. Teach a woman to grow her own fish, and she may soon have so many that theft becomes a problem.

The issue of thieves stalking the handful of fish farms coming back to life in the Congo speaks volumes about the sheer demand for fish as an essential source of protein in the former Belgian colony.

Yet the problem is relative – and containable. Here in Kipushi, near the headwaters of the mighty Congo River, the tidy series of rearing ponds dug and now run by 150 women – mostly widows, resettled refugees and former combatants of the Congolese civil war – lie an inconvenient 30 kilometres from the hungry city of Lubumbashi. Hence, no thieves here, and the women are making a tidy, sustainable profit on the delicious and nourishing 600-gram tilapia they raise from fry, selling their stock to local villagers.

A different story is told in the vast, lush market garden of Quartier Congo on Lubumbashi's outskirts, where so many fish were stolen that the seven farm associations representing smallholders simply abandoned their aquaculture ponds, deciding instead to concentrate on the thriving vegetable beds that have doubled farm incomes in the past four years, lifting the neighbourhood just above the poverty line.

Location, location, location, therefore, will be a crucial factor in whether fish farming will make a splash as part of a green revolution Congolese agronomists hope to bring to the war-torn central African country.

It matters because the Congo, like all of sub-Saharan Africa, is crazy for fish. Last February alone, the eastern province of Katanga imported 2,250 tonnes, mostly dried, smoked or salt-cured.

Perversely, some of that imported fish actually originates in Congo: it's netted in Lake Tanganyika and then shipped to Zambia before coming back through the borders at the bustling border city of Lubumbashi. The circuitous route says much about the state of Congolese infrastructure, where a simple 100-kilometre journey can take up to seven hours on roads barely worthy of the name.

The need for the Congo to more than dabble in fish farming is all the more acute, given doubts about the long-term viability of Lake Tanganyika's fishery. It was all but destroyed during the Congolese war, but now nearly 1,200 fishers are back on the lake, thanks to a UN Food and Agriculture Organization program that has replaced stolen nets and tackle. Some are line-fishing with dugout canoes; others are working in two-boat teams by lamplight to net bigger hauls overnight. Anecdotally, some say the stocks are not what they used to be.

The books of one of the seven fishing co-ops show a haul of 257 tonnes in 1993 dropping to 3.24 tonnes in 2003, a figure doubtlessly impacted by war, which saw some fishers drown in a bid to flee to neighbouring Tanzania.

Today, nobody knows the stock levels, says Adelard Mambo, 43, president of Kalemie's MPK fishing association. "There is no state regulation, no enforcement. We fish freely, yet we are seeing fewer fish."

Despite its lofty title, the provincial Centre for Aquaculture Research at Lubumbashi is actually just a small cluster of ponds tucked behind a tiger enclosure at the city zoo. There, head researcher Jules Lwamba leads a team of three working to supply the region's rearing ponds with the best possible local stock, focusing on tilapia and several variations of African catfish.

"We would like to follow the path of Asia, where they successfully combine rice paddies with fishing in dual-use projects," says Lwamba. "But we are so far behind. Before the war we had 8,000 fishponds, but at least half were abandoned. The goal of this centre is to restore them all and then keep going."

The problem is not demand, nor even technology. It is simply a question of building up capacity to help people help themselves – arguably the most common refrain heard today in eastern Congo.

"Everyone here wants fish," notes Lwamba. "We have to guard this place by night, otherwise people would steal them."

The Star

Lack of feed imperils Ugandan fish farming project

A $15 million commercial fish fish farming project in Uganda hangs in the balance now that one of its key partners, fish multiplication specialist Genomar, has pulled out.

Absence of a local, cost-effective source of fish feed accelerated the action, said project manager Deogratius Kasozi. “The feed itself is cheap but the cost of freight and the shelf life of only three months limited our options. Bringing it in by air was too expensive, while the long procurement cycle make imports by sea equally unviable as the stock expires before it even gets to the ponds,” he said.

The project was launched in 2005 to develop an integrated aquaculture operation with a fish hatchery and commercial fish farming aiming at yields of as much as 30,000 tonnes of tilapia annually by 2009.

Mr Kasozi says that Sungenor was trying to work with USAid to mobilise the industry to a point where it can support local manufacturing of fish feed.

Although there are many people currently growing fish in ponds, they have not been very successful because they are using poultry-based feeds, which impacts on yields. The more successful ones are engaged in growing lung fish, which is carnivorous and easier to breed. “Tilapia feeds from the top, which requires floating feed, as opposed to poultry feed, which sinks and eventually pollutes the ponds,” Mr Kasozi explained.

Initial estimates have put the cost of a fish feed plant at $2 million, an investment Mr Kasozi says would be justifiable only if it allowed the plant to achieve optimum output.

However, he said the objectives of the pilot project undertaken in 2005 had been realised with the fingerlings reaching the target weight of one kilogramme in six months. Yields were 50 per cent of the stock introduced, but Kasozi says this was expected because they had not put in place any controls against frogs and other amphibians that eat fingerlings.

The project was premised on the need to supplement fisheries from Lake Victoria, which, besides supplying a fish processing industry that has grown rapidly in the past 10 years, is exposed to massive demand for tilapia, the preferred fish in Uganda and most of the Great Lakes region. Sungenor says widespread commercial fish farming is the only way of saving Lake Victoria as it would absorb some of the pressure by using fast growing species to supply the domestic and export market.

Uganda’s earnings from formal fish exports surpassed the $136 million mark last year; it is estimated catches are over 250,000 tonnes annually. Growing demand for fish has led to more aggressive fishing methods that threaten the sustainability of the industry.

The project was expected to meet demand for fish in Uganda and neighbouring countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Congo and Sudan.

Compared with the strains developed by Genomar, wild tilapia can take as long as three years to reach a kilogramme of weight.

In trials undertaken in Masaka, 130 kilometres south of Kampala, control samples comprised of indigenous varieties took 12 months to achieve just 300 grammes of weight while the genetically developed varieties had achieved weights of 1kg in half that time.

According to the original plan, the project was expected to yield 10,000 tonnes of tilapia fish in the first year, beginning January 2006, before rising to 30,000 tonnes annually by 2009. Results from the pilot project indicated that annual output levels of between 10 tonnes and 40 tonnes per hectare were achievable in Uganda, but production had stagnated at the current level of one tonne per hectare mainly because of poor feed and water quality.

Besides its own commercial operation, Sungenor planned to introduce an outgrower scheme that it hoped would change the fishing culture in the Lake Victoria basin.

Declining catches from Lake Victoria continue to be a major concern in the region, even though recent studies have suggested an increase in fish stocks in the lake. At least four fish processing factories have closed down in Uganda during the past year, citing difficulties in getting fish supplies.

The East African

Rwanda tries tilapia cage aquaculture

Some 10,000 young tilapia weighing 30gms each are to be imported from Uganda to Rwanda.

This will be Rwanda’s country’s biggest fish cage pilot study, according to a leading Rwandan agronomist. The managing director of Genesis Ltd, Mr. Gil Nossan, an agricultural and livestock specialist, said te fish cage study is pioneered by a private developer and will be undertaken in Lake Muhazi in the eastern province.

“We are in the process of importing 10 tonnes of fish feed for this pilot study with each tonne going for US$1,200. This is the best way to grow fish. Local people invest in fish ponds and harvest little. Fish ponds require a lot of power to mix the water and there is a problem of lack of oxygen,” he said.

Nossan further explained that the aluminum cages will be inserted in the right spots of the lake. The water will mix naturally and thus provide oxygen in the cages. The fish feed, imported from Israel, will be placed afloat within the cage, which will be two thirds submerged in water and a third above the water.

The fish feed is dropped periodically within the cage depending on the fish age and size. The feed is routinely changed after two months.

A fish cage specialist working with USAID Uganda was recently in the country to ascertain the quality of the fish feed samples that were brought in and he gave the nod. Harvesting is expected in six months. The 10,000 fish imported weighing 30gms are expected to grow to 500gms within the six month period.

East African Business Week

Integrated agriculture-aquaculture project improves lives in Malawi

Scientists at The WorldFish Center have reported that an innovative project to encourage fish farming among families affected by HIV/AIDS in Malawi has doubled the income for 1,200 households and greatly increased fish and vegetable consumption among rural communities.

The findings were released in a review of a multi-year initiative by the Malaysia-based center, one of 15 supported by the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and aid organization World Vision to promote aquaculture among “vulnerable populations” in Malawi. The two organizations have worked in Malawi to encourage farming families headed by women and orphans to adopt integrated agriculture-aquaculture.

The project assists farmers by digging small, rain-fed ponds their land in which they raise commonly cultivated fish species such as tilapia. Farm and kitchen waste serves as food for the fish and the light labor requirements make the ponds easy to manage for households affected by the AIDS pandemic.

Stephen Hall, Director General of WorldFish said, “In addition to the income they gain from selling fish, the fish themselves provide a vital source of food that is critical to survival for people with HIV/AIDS. The ponds also can provide water for crops during dry periods and sediment that makes for an excellent fertilizer.”

Families participating in the project have shown a 150 percent increase in fresh fish consumption, boosting their intake of protein, calcium, vitamin A and micronutrients. A 2006 nutrition survey by World Vision found that for households adopting the integrated agriculture-aquaculture approach, in three years malnutrition among children under five dropped from 45 percent to about 15 percent.

“The purpose of the project is to develop technologies and practices in fish production that are specifically suited for orphan and widow-headed households,” said Dr. Daniel Jamu, the Regional Director for WorldFish in Eastern and Southern Africa. “We have seen that fish farming, while not a cure-all for their problems, can dramatically improve conditions among rural families dealing with HIV/AIDS.”

The success of the pilot project in Malawi has prompted WorldFish and its partners to expand the initiative to include 26,000 farming households in Malawi and neighboring Mozambique and Zambia, with the goal of providing benefits to 134,000 people.

So far about 30 percent of the farmers in the program are women . Experts teach them how to raise, process and market their fish, generating much-needed income. The ponds have proven capable of producing 1,500 kilograms of fish per hectare each year.

Fish caught from natural lakes and streams have traditionally been an important part of the diet in landlocked Malawi. But an increase in population and a decline in catches reduced annual per capita fish consumption from 14 kilograms in the 1970s to 4.2 kilograms in 2005. However, previous efforts to increase fish consumption through aquaculture have failed, in part because they required large financial investments from farmers who simply did not have the money.

The approach is succeeding because it cheaply and efficiently integrates aquaculture into existing farm operations. Investment is minimal because farmers are encouraged to use farm waste and crop byproducts to feed their fish. And by providing additional water and natural fertilizer, it can boost production of both subsistence and cash crops across the farm. Research has shown that farms that integrated ponds into their traditional agriculture farming were nearly 20 percent more productive during times of drought than farms without ponds because of the soil fertility boost from the pond sediments. In addition, some farmers have started growing valuable crops like bananas and guava on the perimeter of their ponds, taking advantage of the water that seeps into the surrounding soil.

GGIAR

Namibia : Export markets open for oyster farmers

Namibian will soon be able to expand its fledgling aquaculture industry and export oysters to the Far East, with Singapore the next destination after China and Hong Kong.

Although the first local oyster cultivation was started 20 years and has expanded to 42 oyster farms in the Atlantic Ocean, stringent health regulations in European countries and the US and the lack of a local testing laboratory have hampered the industry. At present, oysters are sent to a laboratory in South Africa.

This will now change, according to the outgoing Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Andrew Ndishishi. "We have now hired offices in Walvis Bay and staff was appointed, while the equipment has been set up," Ndishishi said. "The testing lab must run for six months before it can receive certification and international accreditation, which will be early next year," he added. "I am on my way to Singapore to finalise export agreements and a team of
from there will come to Namibia this month to test our ocean waters and examine our oyster plants so that we can obtain the green light for export."

Namibian oyster production amounted to six million oysters in 2004, bringing in N$12 million ($1.7 million). The cocktail-size oysters produced in Namibia fetch around N$3 (US 42 cents) each, but they could easily fetch N$12 each when grown to bigger sizes.

About 70 per cent of Namibia's total oyster production is exported to South Africa. Some are flown to China and Hong Kong, where there are fewer import restrictions than in Europe, while the rest are consumed locally.

"Namibia has a definite market advantage it should exploit because oysters grow three times faster here than in Europe," according to an investor in the industry. "In France, oysters take nearly three years to grow to the preferred market size and in Namibia only 9 to 12 months."

Oysters are not naturally found along the Namibian coast and all spat (from which baby oysters are grown) had to be imported from overseas originally. Some local oyster companies have started producing their own spat.

Both the pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) and the European oyster (Ostrea edulis) do well in Namibia.

NamPort has made some 1,250 hectares of sea space available for oyster farmers outside the Walvis Bay port area and three different oyster companies are making use of the space, called Aquapark.

The Namibian