This project document has been developed by a group of
trainees who participated during 2019 in the “Fish Culture Development – Africa
training course” which is annually hosted by the Egyptian International Centre
for Agriculture (EICA) in partnership with Japan International Cooperation
Agency (JICA). The proposed location of this project is Lake Malawi. The
project document started with background information highlighting the
importance of fish in Malawi for nutrition as well as for employment and income
generation. The native tilapia, Oreochromis shiranus has been chosen for
the project. The budget, investment, and revenue of the project have been
covered in the document. The technical components of the project components
(hatchery and farm) have been addressed supported with the necessary figures
and tables. The project economics have been adequately analyzed. All activities
of the project have been arranged in an activity chart. The environmental,
social and economic sustainability of the project have been addressed. Finally,
there have been specific recommendations regarding the interest rates as well
as taxation regarding aquaculture projects. This project is one of more group
projects which have been supervised by Dr. Abdel Rahman El Gamal.
Photo credit: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Review: Abdel Rahman El Gamal (Founder of the website)
The inserted
picture shows a turtle escape from a fishing gear.
The accidental
catch (by catch) of sea turtle in marine environments is a major threat to sea
turtle populations worldwide. Often, turtles caught in fishing gear are injured
and/or drowned.
According to published
estimates by Oceana, about 50,000 endangered and threatened sea turtles are
annually killed by Southeast shrimp trawls (USA). (South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico waters).
In the 1980s, the
contribution of shrimp trawlers to sea turtle mortality was determined. Consequently,
the Turtle Excluder Devices (TED) were developed throughout the 1980s and ‘90s for
conserving sea turtles caught in the shrimp
trawlers.
A TED is a
grid of metal bars which is fitted into the neck of a shrimp trawl net with an
opening either at the top or the bottom mesh to enable a turtle caught in the
net to escape. The small animals such as shrimp pass through the bars into the
tail bag of the trawl net and are caught. When turtles and other large animals,
such as sharks, and stingrays are captured in the trawl, they are stopped by
the TED, strike the grid bars and are ejected through the opening.
The use of TED has been enforced in
countries where shrimp trawling is commonly practiced. For example, a Public Law
101-162 in the USA requires the banning
of the importation of commercially harvested shrimp unless the exporting
country has been certified by the State Department as having a regulatory
program comparable to that of the United States for reducing the incidental
capture of sea turtles in shrimp trawls. TEDs have been required in the United
States beginning in 1987. At present, around 40 countries are certified that
they have comparable sea turtle bycatch rates to the United States.
The focus of TED
development has been always to provide safe methods for turtles to escape
almost as soon as they were caught in the net. Equally important was to preserve
the shrimp catch; the target crop. The periodic development of TEDs has been
based of the practice findings and emerging issues. For example, modified
designs of TEDs targeted to accommodate small-sized sea turtles such as the
Kemp’s ridley. Equally important, the reduction of the unwanted fish bycatch has been considered in the TED development.
The
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – Fisheries (NOAA) reported that TEDs were able to save up to 97% of sea turtles
with minimal loss of shrimp.
According
to some official reports, the use of newly developed TED would lead remove
shrimp trawlers from “red-lists” on seafood buying guides, and hence help the opening
of new retail markets to their catch as well as help ensure healthy sea turtle
populations, improving the value of nature-based tourism.
Photo and caption’s credit: Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) Review: Abdel Rahman El Gamal (Founder of the website)
The inserted
photo shows the Sponge farming trials in Marakei (Pacific Islands). The
following is a summarized review on sponge farming.
The promotion
of sponge aquaculture has been based on social and environmental factors. The
easiness of sponge farming encouraged the adoption of the small-scale farming by
rural communities. Providing a sustainable alternative to fishing is believed to
have an ecological role through reducing the pressure on wild sponge resources that
are at risk of being overexploited due to growing demand.
Sponge farms are easy to establish with minimum infrastructure
and so with little financial resources and
requires little specialist knowledge. Added
to that, no feed is needed and usually no chemicals are applied. On the other
hand, the good price of produced shrimp makes it a source of income.
The main efforts spent in running a sponge farm include the farm
structure maintenance, hanging young sponges from the breeding stock, cleaning of
sponges from vegetation and possible pests, trimming of sponges to give them a
round shape, and harvesting and preparing the products for sale.
The main sponge
culture technique includes rope method, mesh bag method and a
combination of methods. The culture of sponge is done as a
single crop (monoculture) or in integration with other aquaculture systems.
The suitable site for the sponge farming should be highly
considered bearing in mind that sponges rely greatly on passive water for
providing food, such as bacteria and microalgae.
Adequate water flow increases growth and quality of
sponges. However, higher than normal water flow rates could potentially damage
farmed sponges. Thus, an ideal location for a sea sponge farm would be in sheltered
area whereas ample water flow with sufficient food should be secured to optimize
sponge growth.
It may worth mentioning that the commercial sponge farming was met with
severe resistance from sponge fisherman, who believed that their continued
income was under threat.
Photo and caption credit: KIVA Description: Abdel Rahman El Gamal (Founder of the website)
The photo caption shows the buying process of smoked fish in
Selenge which is a specialty of this province.
It may be of interest to add that the per capita
consumption which is 0.5 kg/year which is the third lowest level in the world
in 2016. However, it seems that Selenge is one of few regions in Mongolia where
smoked fish is really common and is displayed whether in shops such as the one
shown in the photo or on stalls along the road. In fact in some train stations,
some local women are selling
drinks, ice cream, smoked fish and home baked food.
Photo credit: Armando Romero (El
Salvador) Description: Armando
Romero and Abdel Rahman El Gamal (Founder of the website)
The inserted photo
was taken in a governmental station in El Salvador where goats are integrated
with fish farming. The small size of goats, their
early maturation, and low capital investment are factors to consider when
adopting such integrated system. Also, the goat manure can be utilized in
fish culture. In brief, the overall objective of such integrated system is to
maximize the productivity and minimize the operational
costs. The advantage of this integration is maximized when the demand for milk
and meat is high.
Video credit: Elsadig Arbab (Sudan) Description: Abdel Rahman El Gamal (Founder of the video channel)
The inserted video
was filmed during the sampling of farmed fish in an earthen pond in Sudan. The
species shown in the sample reflects the production basket of fish farming in
Sudan. According to FAO statistics, 9000 tons have been produced from
aquaculture in Sudan in 2017; out of which 5000 tons are Nile tilapia
(Oreochromis niloticus) while the production of African catfish (Clarias
gariepinus) amounted 4000 tons in that year.
The size of sampled fish as shown in the video is far below the market
size of both species.
Video credit: Mohamed Aaty (Egypt) Description: Abdel Rahman El Gamal (Founder of the video channel)
The rice eel
(Monopterus albus) is also
known as swamp eel, white rice
field eel and other local names in Asian countries. This air-breathing
species of fish belongs to the Synbranchidae family.
The
preferred environment for the rice eel includes a wide variety of freshwater
habitats including shallow wetlands, stagnant waters, marshes, ditches, ponds
and rice fields. The species feeds mainly on other fish, shrimp, crayfish,
frogs, and other aquatic invertebrates such as snails, worms and insects.
The
environmental and nutritional requirements of these eels have been considered
upon their culture in rice fields as a food product especially the species can
obtain a considerable part of their oxygen requirement from air. The ability to
breed in captivity is a key advantage in the culture of the species.
Their culture in rice fields has been accompanied by dike boring due
to the burrowing behavior of the species, thus making it difficult for them to
retain water in their rice fields. On the other hand, field eels through their
feeding habits were found to serve as predator against some unwanted insect
pests such as golden apple snails which have become a pest in some Asian
countries, particularly the Philippines and Vietnam. In addition to rice field
culture, rice eels can be also cultured in small cement tanks; in this case
external food made of locally available materials will be required.
In addition to the local consumption of rice eels, there is an
opportunity to export the eels whether processed or live turning the species into a valuable fish.
The
eel specimens shown in the video are temporarily held before stocking.
Video credit: Mohamed Aaty (Egypt) Description: Abdel Rahman El Gamal (Founder of the video channel)
Pangasius (Pangasius bocourti) is a
species of catfish in the family Pangasiidae. The species is native to the
Mekong basin. These fish are important food fish with an
international market. They are often labelled in North America and Australia as
“basa fish”, tra, “swai”, “bocourti”, or striped
catfish.
It may worth noting that the first time
FAO statistics included this species in aquaculture production was in 1997 with
around 40,000 tons indicating a subsequent drastic increase reaching about 1.288
million tons of pangasius in 2017.
Regarding the trade, Vietnam is
currently the largest pangasius catfish exporting country in the world.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Vietnam),
pangasius export turnover reached a record of 2.26 billion USD in 2018.
The inserted video shows the feeding of
pangasius in a large fish pond using a feeding boat loaded by sacs of
commercial fish feed.
Video credit: Elsadig Arbab (Sudan) Description: Abdel Rahman El Gamal (Founder of the video channel)
The
sources of animal protein in Sudan are largely dominated by red meat. In regard to fish and according to the latest
FAO statistics, the per capita fish consumption from fish falls below 1.5
kg/year. However, there is a growing interest to enhance fish consumption for several
reasons especially public health. It is believed that aquaculture will be the
leading avenue to enhance fish production and so fish consumption.
According
to FAO, aquaculture production in Sudan amounted 9000 tons in 2017 and composed
on only two fish groups; tilapia (5000 tons) and catfish (4000 tons).
The video shows the release of wild caught advanced fingerlings of
African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) in an earthen fish pond.
Photo credit: Andres Delgado (Colombia) Review: Abdel Rahman El Gamal (Founder of the website)
The facility shown in the inserted picture belongs to the Corporación
Centro de Investigación de la Acuacultura de Colombia (Colombian Aquaculture
Research Center, CENIACUA) located in Punta
Canoa, Bolívar Department, Colombia.
A selective-breeding program to develop resistant populations of white-leg
shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) to white spot virus (WSSV) launched
at CENIACUA.
WSSV has been considered the most pathogenic of all the
serious diseases affecting the global shrimp industry. The disease was first
reported in China in 1992 and by 2000, the disease spread to most of the major
shrimp-farming countries.
Based on the low heritability
of WSSV resistance as well as the negative correlations found between WSSV
resistance and growth rate as well as the resistance and reproductive ability,
the selection program and selection pressure have been determined and applied.
This Colombian
breeding program has produced shrimp populations that are much more resistant
to WSSV than unselected populations.
According to published research, improving the
survival rates and enhancing the reproductive capacity of the WSSV-resistant
populations appears to be important research points for future research.
