The photos show the smoking of fish in Tanji landing site. The species which are often smoked include bonga (Ethmolosa fimbriata) 40%, Catfish( Arius Spp) and Baracuda (Spyraena Spp), Shark, polydactylus quadrilis, and sardinella spp. The smoked fish are highly accepted –especially smoked bonga- and widely consumed in the country due to its affordability and availability all-year round. In general, bonga constitutes 80% of the landings; 40% of which are preserved by smoking. The smoking is done by hired men. Smoked fish is always cheaper compared to fresh fish. A part of smoked fish is exported to neighbor countries like Nigeria.
The photos show Tanji fish landing site which is considered the largest and busiest landing site in Gambia. The photos shows fishing boats while off-landing fish. Usually, some boats land with their catches in the morning while others land in the evening. Once boats land, people from different surrounding villages and towns were around to find fish. As seen in one of the photos, the crowd of people around the boat involves boat crews (fishermen) who carry fish to the shore or truck.
The technical session of the 75-day “Fish Culture Development” training course started in Cairo on the 8th of October, 2013. This course is supported by the Egyptian International Centre for Agriculture (EICA). The participants in the course are Ever Edrey Hernandez (Colombia), Peter K Mendy (Gambia), Manuel Cano Alfaro (Guatemala), Ahmad Yousef moh’d alqarain (Jordan), Abubakar Adamu Ladan (Nigeria), Lo Oumy Seck (Senegal), and Kyeerya Benjamin (Uganda). Dr. Abdel Rahman El Gamal delivered the first lecture and continues his contributing by several lectures in this course.
The video covers different phases of the stocking of tilapia fingerlings in Lake Nasser. The stocked species is Nile tilapia, Oreochromisniloticus. The video shows the broodstock facilities and maintenance in one of the three hatcheries devoted to produce the fingerlings required for the restocking. The nursing of tilapia fry is briefly shown in the video. Tilapia fingerlings are transported on proper vehicles to reach a ship which is equipped by fish holding tanks and once the release location is reached, fingerlings are released into the lake. The stocking of about 10-15 million tilapia fingerlings in the lake is a debatable issue especially the impact of the practice is not quantified and hence the rationality of the practice is based on only field observations.
This 2-slide bite presents the change that occurred in the catch of Bardaweel Lagoon over about 20-year period. The over-fishing on the gilt-head seabream (Sparus aurata) has led to severe decline in its population offering the chance to crabs and non-economical shrimp to fill the niche. This short bite is supported by photos and graphs.
Lake Timsah is a part of the Suez Canal system which is fed by the Mediterranean and the Red Sea as well as a part of agricultural drainage system. The fishery of Lake Timsah is combined in the fishery statistics with “Bitter Lakes” and Suez Canal whereas the three lakes collectively produced about 3,500 tons of fish in 2011. Lake Timsah covers an area of about 750 ha.
The video which was taken in Lake Timsah show artisanal fishermen with their small wooden boats which operate close to the shore. The catch is often modest as represent by the small size of marine fish. However, this lake has a unique fishery resource whereas most of the mussel in the country is produced in this lake. Fish are caught using simple fishing gears of nets supported by beating water surface with an appropriate rod targeting to drive fish to the area where they are caught.
Lake Qarun (Fayoum) has a special importance as an over-wintering location for water birds. The wetlnad habitat of Lake Qarun supports wide range of water birds. It has been estimated that hosts a total of 205 birds species have been identified mostly migratory. It is estimated that as many as 80-90 species of water birds are found in the area of the lake. The international importance of Lake Qarun for wintering water birds led to become a part of Ramsar wetland sites and a Specially Protected Area, under the Barcelona Convention and has been declared a protected nature conservation area in 1989. For touristic purposes, Lake Qarun is considered an excellent bird watching location. The waterfowl, black-necked Grebe, coots, shore birds are among the birds found in Lake Qarun.
This video was taken in Monterey Bay Aquarium, USA.
Review: Abdel Rahman El Gamal (Founder of the website and video channel)
Shrimpfish, also called razorfish, are five small species of small, tropical marine fishes in the subfamily Centriscinae of the family Centriscidae. Their name (shrimpfish) derives from their similarity with shrimp while their alternative name “razorfish” is derived from their looking like sharp wedges oriented vertically as a group in the bottom of the sea. These fish are almost transparent with long snout. There are thin fish with dark stripes longitudinally through their bodies. Shrimpfish adults are up to 20 centimeters in length including their snout. Shrimpfish adopts a unique swimming behavior with their heads pointing downwards. This species feeds on small invertebrates and mosquito larva.
Review: Abdel Rahman El Gamal (Founder of the website and video channel)
This 8-min video addresses the sequence of the artificial reproduction of African catfish (Clarias gareipinus).
The process starts with the hormonal induction of catfish brood fish using the extract of catfish pituitary gland. Afterwards, a female catfish is stripped upon ovulation while the male is sacrificed for obtaining the testes keeping in mind that it is not possible to hand strip the sperm from the male of African catfish. Fertilizing eggs is done following dry method in which the sperm is thoroughly mixed with eggs before water is added. Hardened fertilized eggs (embryos) are moved to a trough-type incubator till hatching.
Note: please note that the video was taken in different sessions but in the same place and by the same trainer. This was done in a leading aquaculture enterprise located in Kafr El Sheikh, Egypt.
Video credit: The credit of these video clips goes to colleagues who participated in aquaculture training courses organized by the Egyptian International Centre for Agriculture (EICA). Sincere apology for not being able to identify the personalized sharing of these clips. I have no doubt that friends will be pleased seeing their materials are of value to others.
The video shows the farming of African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) in integration with other agriculture crops of vegetables and fruits. The farm is located in Ismaelia governorate. This farm could serve a model of catfish farm especially the national strategy targets to enhance the contribution of native fish species in Egyptian aquaculture. The farm shows the fingerlings and the market size of the species. The existence of aerators as well as the feeding activity of market size catfish indicates the intensification level of catfish farming in this particular farm. One may notice some of vegetables on the farm (e.g. eggplant) as well as the palm trees; there are more crops that are not shown in the video. There are also pigeon houses on the farm. The classic integration takes place as fertile water discharged from fish ponds goes to agriculture crops.
Marketing of African catfish caught from the wild has faced some difficulties as many of consumers believe that catfish fish could tolerate the deteriorated water quality which could affect its quality. Therefore, expanding the culture of African catfish as well as labeling farm-raised fish is expected to change the image of catfish to consumers and hence to promote further development of African catfish culture.
