Credit: Sherif Sadek (Egypt)
Meagre (meager) proved to be a new candidate in Egyptian aquaculture. The preliminary efforts to adapt Meagre to aquaculture were done by the private sector, starting in 1996 in Damietta Governorate. Ongoing meagre farming operations rely on trash fish and small shrimp as the only feeding source whereas a harvest of about 12 tons/ha have been achieved over 285 days with 1.25 kg as an average weight/fish. In this situation and as expected, the feed conversion ratio is poor with an average of 9 (feed): 1 (gain).
Because there is a growing interest to incorporate meagre in Egyptian aquaculture, there is a new initiative that targets the artificial spawning and production of meagre seeds. Also, field trials have been conducted on private farms for evaluating the impact of artificial feed with 40 and 50% crude protein on the growth performance and production of the species. These initiatives are expected to support the development of meagre aquaculture in Egypt whether for local market and possibly for export.