Review: Abdel Rahman El Gamal (Founder of the website)
The inserted photos were taken in a fish farm in Egypt whereas the management in this farm is similar to many other farms in Egypt. As shown in the photos, the target species is mullet especially flathead grey mullet (Mugil cephalus). Usually, in such system, Nile tilapia is the main farmed species in freshwater and brackish water systems. Tilapia could be cultured in a monoculture systems otherwise mullets are may be incorporated with tilapia in a polyculture system.
Even though, mullets often enjoy higher farm gate prices, its monetary value turns much higher when marketed in the spring for salting operations. Traditionally, the consumption of salted mullet is remarkably high during the Eastern that falls in April every year. The attractive farm gate price for mullets during this season encourages fish farmers to postpone the harvest till sometime in March especially mullets can continue growing –even at lower rate-during winter. The fishing gears used along with the experienced labor allow the harvesting of selected mullets of around 400 g and above leaving the remaining standing crop of tilapia and mullet to continue growing for some more time.