Partnership for African Fisheries (PAF) Aquaculture Working Group:
Strategic review on sub Saharan African aquaculture seed supply
Author: Ram C. Bhujel
Author’s Contact: [email protected]
February 2014
Commercial tilapia fingerling production at last beginning to take off in SS Africa, Benin,
West Africa Photo courtesy of Maurice Danjinou
This report was commissioned by NEPAD through the University of Stirling UK.
Disclaimer
The information and views set out in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily
reflect the official opinion of NEPAD or the University of Stirling. Neither NEPAD, the University of
Stirling, nor any person acting on their behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be
made of the information contained therein.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The present study, ‘Strategic review on aquaculture seed supply’ in the
major countries of Sub-Saharan Africa was carried out to assess the
current situation and study the scope. Information has been compiled from
available published and unpublished literature and also collected via email
communications with key professionals in each of the selected countries.
Aquaculture in Africa is in its infancy and, consequently, fish seed
production and supply is at a similar stage, except in some countries such
as Egypt, Nigeria and Uganda. Various species of tilapia dominate
aquaculture production. Tilapia farming has boomed in Egypt mainly
because of success in mass fry production techniques through hormonal
sex-reversal; however, most other countries lag far behind. Similarly,
catfish farming took off in Nigeria because of the mushrooming of smallscale catfish hatcheries following policy support and encouragement by the
government. However, in both the cases, scale and efficiency of seed
production are far below demand. There are very few success stories in
other countries; examples include, Tropo Farm in Ghana, Source of Nile
(SoN) farm in Uganda, Lake Harvest in Zimbabwe, and several farms in
Zambia. However, they mostly produce seed for their own use only and,
more importantly, all currently struggle to maintain seed quality.
Various sources show that around 1.5 billion fish seed are produced in
Africa annually whereas estimated demand is over 10 billion, which reveals
a huge deficit. More importantly, aquaculture is expected to grow by 10%
each year. If this is the case, demand for fish seed will double in 8 years
time. Therefore, fish seed can be expected to be the main constraint for
aquaculture development in Africa. Appropriate measures are urgently
needed to implement an expansion in seed supply.
It is recommended to establish at least one model commercial hatchery in
each of the African countries which have the relevant aquaculture
potential. Such model hatcheries can be established through south-south
cooperation for training and technical assistance. Each model hatchery
should be managed as a self-sustaining unit either within the relevant
public institution or should be managed by a private company
2
independently. The model hatcheries should serve as centres of excellence
for hatchery technology where many farmers and their groups can be
trained. Gradually, seed nursery and trading networks should be
established or strengthened so that a large number of farmers get their
services with respect to growing fish in all countries.
3
Acknowledgments
The author would like to acknowledge the contributions of the following persons who provided
valuable information during this study; namely:
Prof Charles Ngugi, Kenyatta University in Kenya provided recent literature concerning the fish
seed status of his country.
Information provided by Mr Peter Marangu from Kenya, who was in Thailand for training on
tilapia hatchery and sex-reversed fry production techniques, has also been valuable in roviding
some insight into Kenyan fish seed demand and current status.
Dr David Nguenga and Victor Pouomonge from IRAD, Cameroon provided recent literature
about the fish seed status in Cameroon. Mr Serge CIEWE, Aquaculture consultant based in the
capital of Cameroon.
Austin Mtweda – Bunda College, Malawi provided information from Department of Fisheries
Naga Murali from Triton Aquaculture Africa Limited, based in Ghana, provided the latest
information on fish farms and hatcheries in Ghana.
Shimbetu Mweemba, aquaculture technician with the Department of Fisheries (DoF), Zambia,
shared a lot of information during a mission trip recently, which has been used in the
compilation of this report.
Angus McNiven from Farm Aqua, based in Thailand, provided information and pictures of a
hatchery in Malawi which was built through his technical assistance.
Mark Woollard, an Intern at AIT from Plymouth University, UK who assisted in collecting some
information about fish seed in Africa.
The author also expresses gratitude to James Muir and John Bostock from University of Stirling
who provided this opportunity.
Thanks are also due to the anonymous reviewer who provided constructive suggestions and to
Trevor Meyer, John Bostock and Will Leschen for assistance in editing.
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Table of Contents
1.
INTRODUCTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8
1.1
1.2
2.
OVERVIEW OF THE SEED PRODUCTION AND SUPPLY ---------------------------------- 16
2.1
2.2
2.2.1
2.2.2
2.2.3
2.2.4
2.2.5
2.2.6
2.3
2.3.1
2.3.2
2.3.3
2.3.4
2.3.5
2.3.6
2.4
2.4.1
2.4.2
2.4.3
3.
Seed quality issue ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 37
Seed Supply Models ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 38
Role of Public and Private Sectors --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 40
CURRENT STATUS IN SELECTED AFRICAN COUNTRIES --------------------------------- 41
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5
4.6
4.7
4.8
4.9
4.10
4.11
5.
Wild seed collection and supply ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18
Tilapia seed production and supply ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19
Mixed sex fry production .......................................................................................................................19
Hybridization method ............................................................................................................................21
YY-male technology ................................................................................................................................21
Hormonal sex-reversal technique ..........................................................................................................22
Financial aspect ......................................................................................................................................23
Conclusion ..............................................................................................................................................25
Catfish seed production ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 26
Broodfish preparation ............................................................................................................................26
Hormone injection .................................................................................................................................27
Egg incubation ........................................................................................................................................28
Larval rearing..........................................................................................................................................28
Fry nursery rearing .................................................................................................................................28
Financial aspect ......................................................................................................................................29
Other species seed production and supply ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 31
Mullet seed production and supply .......................................................................................................31
Rain bow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) seed production ......................................................................32
Carps seed production and supply .........................................................................................................35
ISSUES IN SEED PRODUCTION AND SUPPLY ----------------------------------------------- 37
3.1
3.2
3.3
4.
Background ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8
Goal and objectives ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15
Cameroon ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 42
Egypt ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 43
Ghana----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 44
Kenya ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 47
Malawi --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 47
Nigeria ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 49
Tanzania ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 50
Uganda --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 51
Zambia --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 54
Zimbabwe ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 57
Summary status --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 58
MAJOR CONSTRAINTS --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 61
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.4.1
5.4.2
5.4.3
5.4.4
5.4.5
5.5
5.5.1
5.5.2
5.5.3
Human resource --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 61
Water resource ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 61
Information gap --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 61
Biological factors -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 62
Wild seed ................................................................................................................................................62
Used as live-bait and high price .............................................................................................................62
Genetic quality .......................................................................................................................................62
Low fry survival and quality....................................................................................................................63
Limited alternative species ....................................................................................................................64
Socio-economic factors ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 65
Fear of failure .........................................................................................................................................65
Over subsidy ...........................................................................................................................................65
Security...................................................................................................................................................65
5
5.5.4
6.
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4
6.5
6.6
6.7
6.8
6.9
6.10
6.11
6.12
6.13
6.14
6.15
6.16
6.17
6.18
7.
Shortage of private sector investment ...................................................................................................66
RECOMMENDED ACTIONS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 67
Establish broodstock development centres (BDC) for African fishes ------------------------------------------ 67
Establish a Technical Assistance and Quality Certification (TAQC) Agency ---------------------------------- 68
Hands on-training ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 68
Establishment of model hatcheries-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 69
Farmers groups / clusters / cooperatives ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 70
Regulate collection of wild seed resources --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 70
Upgrade existing hatcheries ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 70
Technical assistance and certification of existing hatcheries ---------------------------------------------------- 72
The promotion of contract farming ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 72
Extension services ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 73
Establish/strengthen seed supply Networks ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 73
Loans and micro-finance ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 74
Institutional capacity development ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 74
Human resource development ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 75
South-South cooperation --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 75
Database and reporting of seed production and supply ---------------------------------------------------------- 75
Dissemination of technology / models --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 76
Accessory and input supply systems ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 76
REFERENCES --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 78
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List of Tables
Table 1 Aquaculture production (tonnes) in Africa by country in 2009 (FAO, 2011) ............................................. 9
Table 2 Aquaculture production in Africa by species (FAO FishStat+) .................................................................. 10
Table 3 Production of Nile tilapia (tonnees) in Africa 2009 (FAO FishStat+) ........................................................ 11
Table 4 African catfish production (tonnes) in 2009 (FAO FishStat+) ................................................................... 11
Table 5 Trend of wild seed production of mullet in Egypt (Saleh, 2008) .............................................................. 18
Table 6 Capital and operating costs of a typical sex-reversal tilapia hatchery ..................................................... 24
Table 7 Capital and operating costs of a typical catfish hatchery in Thailand ...................................................... 30
2
Table 8 Cost benefit analysis of a private trout farm in Nepal with 8 tanks and Area = 215 m ) ......................... 34
Table 9 Collection of catfish juveniles from the wild (Dec 200 5 - Mar 2006) ...................................................... 43
Table 10 Tilapia hatcheries in Ghana .................................................................................................................... 45
Table 11 Catfish fingerling producers in Ghana .................................................................................................... 46
Table 12 List of fish hatcheries in Uganda ............................................................................................................ 53
Table 13 Summary of seed demand in major African countries adapted from FAO (2007) incorporating recent
information from various sources given in Section 4 of this study .............................................................. 59
Table 14 Summary of seed resources in Africa (modified from FAO, 2007)......................................................... 60
List of Figures
Figure 1 Annual imports of fishery products to Africa (US$ millions) during 2006 - 2008 (FAO 2010) .................. 9
Figure 2 Egg collection (left), larval rearing trays (middle) and sex-reversal hapas (right) .................................. 23
Figure 3 Egg collection (left) and incubation (right) in Bangladesh ...................................................................... 25
Figure 4 Stripping of catfish eggs for fertilization ................................................................................................. 29
Figure 5 Mature female trout (left) and milt mixing with eggs (right) ................................................................. 35
Figure 6 Fish seed supply model ........................................................................................................................... 39
Figure 7 Tilapia production boom in Egypt ........................................................................................................... 44
Figure 8 A newly established hatchery in Malawi with the assistance from Thailand (From Angus McNiven) ... 48
Figure 9 Aquaculture production in Nigeria (FAO, 2010) ..................................................................................... 49
Figure 10 Tilapia production boom in Uganda ..................................................................................................... 52
Figure 11 Harvesting O. andersonii broods and sampling for DNA analysis ......................................................... 55
Figure 12 Testing a new plastic jar and tray at Rivendell Hatchery, Zambia ........................................................ 56
Figure 13 A hatchery with broodstock hapas, Savanna Stream, Zambia ............................................................. 56
Figure 14 Tilapia egg harvest, incubation and final fish harvest in Zambia .......................................................... 57
Figure 15 General model of fish seed production and supply in Africa ................................................................ 59
Figure 16 Factors affecting survival of catfish fry (Young-Sulem et al., 2007)...................................................... 63
Figure 17 Recommended actions in brief ............................................................................................................. 67
Figure 18 Model hatcheries and seed supply network ......................................................................................... 69
List of Case studies
Case Study 1 AIT Hatchery, Thailand .................................................................................................................... 23
Case Study 2 Quality Breeders, Bangladesh ......................................................................................................... 25
Case Study 3 Phesthong Phan Pla - Catfish Hatchery, Thailand ........................................................................... 29
Case Study 4 Grey Mullet (Mugil cephalus) seed production and supply ............................................................ 32
Case Study 5 Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykis) ............................................................................................. 34
Case Study 6 Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) seed production and supply ........................................................ 36
Case Study 7 Savanna Stream, Zambia ................................................................................................................. 56
Case Study 8 Aqua Farms, Zambia ........................................................................................................................ 57
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1. Introduction
1.1 Background
Promotion of aquaculture in Africa started in the 1960s; at around the same time as in Asia. The
continent received more than one-third of the sectoral development funding compared to Asia
and the Pacific (US$72.5 vs US$171.3) during the initial phase of aquaculture development
(1978 and 1984); however, annual aquaculture production has reached hardly one-tenth of that
in Asia (Lazard, et al., 1991 cited in Brummett et. al., 2008). Most African countries have relied
mainly on capture fisheries, both inland (lakes and rivers) and marine. Despite the application
of new fishing technologies and some promotional activities for aquaculture the per capita fish
supply has not increased for the last three decades in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) (FAO, 2010).
Recently, data has shown alarming signs of decline. For example, in Kenya, per capita supply of
fish declined by more than half in six years, from 6.1 kg/year in 1999 to a mere 2.8 kg/year in
2005. Similarly, in Malawi, the per capita supply of fish has sharply declined from 12.9 kg in
1976 to 7.9 kg in the 1990s and then to 3.6 kg in 2001. Zambians used to consume 16.5 kg per
capita up to the early 1970s but this declined to 6.2 kg by 2000 (Bhujel, 2011b). A similar
situation is likely to happen in most of the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa; namely, Malawi,
Congo, Uganda, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Cameroon, Nigeria,
Angola, Cote d’ Ivoire and Senegal where fish still accounts for more than 30% of the animal
protein (Brummett et al., 2008). This indicates that almost all African countries now have far
less than the 13-15 kg per capita fish consumption recommended by the World Health
Organization (WHO). This shows a real threat to food and nutrition security in African
countries.
An increase in population, a decline in natural fish production and limited aquaculture
production are the reasons for the observed decline in fish consumption. As a result, fishery
products are being imported in large quantities from other countries, costing over US$2 billion a
year (Fig 1). Various workers have pointed out several reasons, including socio-economic
factors, cultural background, geo-physical conditions (e.g. dry climates or shortage of water)
and technological shortcomings. One of the main reasons is the shortage of quality seed when
and where it is required. A number of factors are directly associated with this problem including
production technology, lack of human resources and lack of government focus and appropriate
policies. In African countries, aquaculture was not considered a priority until they faced the
problem of declines in wild catch, alarmingly despite the fact that the concept of farming fish
was introduced as early as 1950s.
FAO data for aquaculture production shows Egypt, Nigeria, and Uganda are the leading
countries (Table 1). African governments have now recognized the value of aquaculture. Some
governments e.g. that of Kenya, are even announcing an unexpected level of investment as a
reaction. Similarly, various African states and their various consortia are projecting that they
need to promote aquaculture to be able to meet the projected demand of 3 million mt annually,
for which aquaculture production has to grow by 10% annually in the next 15 years from its
current level of production of about 1 million mt per year. The first and foremost important prerequisite for any food production sector such as aquaculture to grow at such a rate is the supply
8
of quality seed which has to be available whenever and wherever is necessary. Availability of
fish seed stimulates the expansion of aquaculture (AOP, 1999b).
Figure 1 Annual imports of fishery products to Africa (US$ millions) during 2006 - 2008 (FAO 2010)
Table 1 Aquaculture production (tonnes) in Africa by country in 2009 (FAO, 2011)
Countries
Total
Per cent
Egypt
705,500
71.4
Nigeria
152,796
15.5
Uganda
76,654
7.8
Madagascar
6,091
0.6
Zambia
8,505
0.9
Ghana
6,854
0.7
202
0.0
South Africa
3,415
0.3
Kenya
3,848
0.4
Tunisia
4,167
0.4
DR Congo
2,960
0.3
Zimbabwe
2,652
0.3
Sudan
2,200
0.2
Algeria
2,116
0.2
Malawi
1,620
0.2
Morocco
1,403
0.1
Côte d'Ivoire
1,290
0.1
Others
5,615
0.6
987,888
100
Tanzania
Total
Africa has over 7,500 freshwater fish species distributed in the natural water bodies of 48
countries, which makes up the world’s largest repository of freshwater fish species (Gupta et al.,
2004). Over 130 species have also been introduced into 42 African countries; almost 80% of
which are finfish. The latest FAO (2011) database has listed about 50 African countries which
9
have registered their aquaculture production. Aquaculture species of importance by volume
(Table 2) in Africa include:
a) Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus),
b) Flathead grey mullet (Mugil cephalus),
c) African catfishes (Clarias gariepinus, Burchell, 1882) and (Clarias anguillaris, L. 1758)
d) Native carps / cyprinids
e) Native tilapias
Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) is the most widely cultured and leading species in terms of
production in Africa (Table 3). It is produced in over 20 countries. For many African countries,
especially in southern Africa, Nile tilapia is considered an exotic species; therefore they may
have restrictions for its introduction and culture (Mapfumo, 2010). There are several species of
native tilapias which are native to certain countries and river basins, such as three spotted
tilapia mainly in Zambia, O. shiranus, & O. karange in Malawi, O. andersonii in Zambia, O. rendalli
in other countries, and so on. Nigeria produces the largest quantity, close to 10,000 tonnes,
followed by DR Congo (2,960 tons) and Zimbabwe (2,650 tons).
Table 2 Aquaculture production in Africa by species (FAO FishStat+)
Fish species
Production (tons)
Per cent
Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)
434,135
43.9
Flathead grey mullet (Mugil cephalus)
210,388
21.3
Africa catfish (Clarias gariepinus, C. anguillaris)
164,319
16.6
Native cyprinids (Labeo sp, Barbus sp., etc.)
78,700
8.0
Native tilapias (O. shiranus, O. rendaili O. andersonii),
17,941
1.8
Common carp (Cyprinus carpio)
16,089
1.6
Nile perch (Lates niloticus)
9,993
1.0
Reticulate knifefish (Papyrocranus afer)
7,204
0.7
European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax)
Gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata)
6,995
0.7
Others (Eels, Pike, Prawn, shrimp etc.)
Total
6,821
0.7
35,302
3.6
987,888
100
Among the other species, grey mullet comes second; however, its production is mainly confined
to Egypt alone (240,000 ton). Spiny eucheuma, a Seaweed is produced in considerable volumes
i.e. 102,000 tonnes, but it is only in Zanzibar. Production of African catfishes (Clarias gariepinus,
C. anguillaris and others), reached over 160,000 tons (Table 4). Among African countries Nigeria
(89,193 tonnes), Uganda (54,956 tonnes) and Egypt (18,000 tonnes) produce more than 99% of
the total.
Native cyprinids are produced mainly in Egypt (62,000 tonnes) followed by Nigeria (15,737
tonnes). FAO data also shows that common carp is cultured mainly in Egypt (12,000 tonnes)
followed by Madagascar (2,800 tonnes). Nile perch is cultured in Nigeria, with a production of
close to 10,000 tons in 2009. Crustaceans and molluscs each constitute less than 10% of total
production (Bartley and Martin, 2004).
10
Table 3 Production of Nile tilapia (mt) in Africa 2009 (FAO FishStat+)
Countries
Nile tilapia
Per cent
390,300
89.9
Uganda
21,445
4.9
Ghana
6,676
1.5
Kenya
3,424
0.8
Zambia
3,419
0.8
Nigeria
3,314
0.8
Sudan
2,000
0.5
Others
3557
0.8
434,135
100
Egypt
Total
Nigeria leads in the production of African catfish (C. gariepinus), which is widely cultured (Table
4). However, its farming has not expanded into other African countries mainly because of a
shortage of fingerlings. Induced spawning techniques in controlled environments and rearing
methods for C. gariepinus larvae have been developed. If the African catfish is to be selected by a
particular country to use as a species of choice, the application of a reliable and established
method of hatchery and fry / fingerling nursing systems is needed.
Table 4 African catfish production (tonnes) in 2009 (FAO FishStat+)
Countries
African catfish
Per cent
Nigeria
89,193
54.8
Uganda
54,956
33.8
Egypt
18,000
11.1
300
0.2
Malawi
80
0.0
Rwanda
60
0.0
South Africa
50
0.0
Other
27
0.0
Angola
10
0.0
Togo
10
0.0
2
0.0
162,688
100
Mali
Zimbabwe
Total
Production distribution shows that Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) has been farmed in more
than 20 countries of Africa. African catfish (Clarias sp.) are grown in more than 10 countries.
Although grey mullet ranks second in production volume, its production is confined to Egypt.
Therefore, tilapias and catfishes are the most commonly farmed species in Africa. Freshwater
fish species dominate the aquaculture production in Africa; over 1/3 of which is attributable to
tilapias, especially Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) (Williams and Brummett, 2000).
Although, information is limited, Nile tilapia introductions have been reported to be responsible
for considerable socio-economic benefits as compared to suspected adverse ecological impacts
in Africa (Bartley and Martin, 2004).
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In general, catfish and tilapias are the most preferred fish species in Africa and are considered
most suitable for culture (Ngugi et. al., 2007). They can be grown either separately or in
combination. In some cases, with other locally available species, the fingerlings are obtained
mostly from the wild (Ponzani and Nguyen, 2008). For aquaculture development, a country may
focus on one species based on climatic, geographical and other reasons. However, most
aquaculturally developed countries tend to have a choice of many species to grow and they may
even accept exotic species with less disease and environmental resistance, from such countries
as Bangladesh and Vietnam. African countries are quite strict in this regard. It can be asked if
indigenous species of fish may be the best candidates for aquaculture development. Are African
catfish and tilapia adequate? If not, what other species might be?
Estimates based on the research carried out for this study through available literature and
various other sources suggests that current fish seed production in Africa is at least 1 billion per
year, whereas estimated demand stands at around 10 billion (Table 11). This indicates a huge
deficit. Furthermore, aquaculture has been expected to grow by 10% each year. If that is
realised, demand for fish seed will double within 8 years. It clearly shows that fish seed is and
will be the main hurdle for aquaculture development in Africa, unless appropriate plans are
implemented in advance.
In the past, the majority of fish farmers in Africa used wild-caught juveniles to stock their ponds.
Even now, fingerlings of many species, for example Heterotis niloticus and Chrysichthys
nigrodigitatus, are captured from the wild; however, wild captured fingerlings tend to be
seasonal in their availability, have limited growth, and are usually made up of different strains
which may be difficult to separate. There is therefore no alternative to hatchery-reared
fingerling if control over parental history is required (Anetekhai et al., 2004).
A rapid decline in wild catch, increased public awareness and priority given by the government
indicate that aquaculture may take off very soon, as in other countries. Promoters of
aquaculture in Africa are indeed expecting a big jump in new technologies without undergoing
through the slow path of development as information on the latest technologies developed
elsewhere are readily available. Domestic as well as foreign investors can select and apply
appropriate technologies and take advantage of abundant land, labour and water resources,
wherever available. Data show that exponential growth is already occurring in some African,
Egypt and Nigeria for example. If that happens in other African countries, demand for fish seed
could be unpredictably high. Fish seed industry leaders need to think ahead for such a possible
scenario so that fish seed would not represent a main constraint to this expansion.
Wild fish seed availability is typically seasonal. Farmers want to stock their ponds when they
have water but production of seed sometimes cannot be geared up immediately. Therefore, one
of the major constraints of aquaculture development in Africa is inadequate fry and fingerling
supply as and when needed. Although, several functional hatcheries as well as wild seed
collection centres (e.g. Egypt and other countries) are active in some countries, fingerling supply
remains a chronic problem (Yapi-Gnaoré et al., 2004). This problem is compounded by poor
infrastructure, which makes seed supply difficult and costly. In addition, the lack of juvenile
rearing techniques, systems and/or facilities can lead to mortality occurring before stocking
into the grow-out systems and during the grow-out period.
12
The quality of seed currently available in various parts of Africa has been questioned by
aquaculture producers as typically fish do not grow satisfactorily. Poor-quality seed affects the
livelihoods of poor farmers and the entire aquaculture industry. High quality fish seed has been
always in high in demand. However, where there are few hatcheries producing high quality
seed, seed costs may be very high due to lack of competition. Frequently the majority farmers
cannot afford this. Therefore, more hatcheries are required in those areas. At the same time,
efforts are necessary to upgrade the existing hatcheries, so that they can produce seed of
premium quality on a mass scale. For example, at least 4-5 tilapia hatcheries in Zambia could be
upgraded (Bhujel, 2011a) in a number of ways, such as by the provision of direct technical
assistance. In addition to strengthening existing hatcheries, there is a need to establish new
hatcheries and seed supply systems in most African countries. Encouraging farmers to vertically
integrate their farms by producing fish seed by themselves, process fish themselves and supply
to the market can be one of the ways to improve seed supply. On the other hand, there is a
possibility of establishing hatcheries producing seed only as a stand-alone business as in Asia. In
many parts of Asia where aquaculture has taken off, fish hatcheries can be found in clusters
(AOP, 1999a,b,c); fewer hatcheries are located in isolated places. This should be considered
while planning for fish seed production for African countries for the later stages when
aquaculture takes off and many farmers commence production. One may ask whether, due to
the limited development of transportation systems in certain parts of Africa, hatcheries should
be spread to each aquaculture location or area rather than being concentrated in one ‘cluster’
which can be far from remote rural farmers.
In Africa, large hatchery facilities with concrete tanks and raceways have often been built within
universities and government institutions as a part of aquaculture development programmes
initiated during early 1950s. However, due to lack of long-term sustainability planning, most
hatcheries remained unused or under-utilised. Experience from Asia has shown that public
entities (universities, research stations and extension offices) have initially been targeted for
technology transfer. It has been effective to a certain extent to provide information to farmers,
especially those operating at subsistence level. It has also created awareness. However, in order
for the aquaculture sector to further develop commercially, technology has to be taken up by
the private sector. Farms or hatcheries run by private companies typically have more flexibility
in hiring and firing of their staff, in providing incentives to hard working staff, fixing seed prices,
paying compensation for losses and so on (AOP, 1999c). However, in order to go for
privatization, the private sector has to be mature enough to take responsibility. At the same
time, the aquaculture businesses have to be competitive to be chosen as an option for profit
making by the private sector. Experience shows that some of the aquaculture activities,
especially fish seed production and fry nursing businesses, are highly competitive. However, in
many countries or locations, technology transfer has to be coordinated through the public
sector with full support in the form of grants, partial supports or subsidies. The main question is
whether the programs established and implemented with grants and subsidies are sustainable
in the long-term. The majority of such programs have been found to be unsustainable.
Therefore, a clear exit strategy has to be included in the plan. The only way is to manage the
project to generate income. Fish hatcheries and nursery businesses may be very profitable in
that case. However, careful planning and implementation is necessary.
Obviously, the requirement for, and the success, of hatcheries will depend on the degree and the
form of overall success of aquaculture development in general. Small-scale aquaculture is
13
carried out mainly for family consumption, is very important and is the main focus for those
countries which have malnutrition or food security problems, whereas large-scale commercial
farming is carried out to produce more fish for the domestic as well as international markets to
earn foreign currencies. In rural areas where resources are limited, one of the few options
available is to start from small-scale subsistence level, providing technical assistance to improve
management, so that it can be expected that some move on to profit oriented farming gradually.
In such a case support from aid agencies would be a necessity. Utilizing their funds to set up
sustainable aquaculture development programs should be a target policy. However, care must
be taken to ensure that the local communities do not expect such support as granted and
become dependants. So far, most donor-funded aquaculture programs have been designed to
develop small-scale family-level subsistence aquaculture. However, questions have been raised
whether these donor-funded programs have any tangible impacts at macro level with respect to
objectives in producing adequate volumes of fish to avoid imports and the generation of
adequate income and employment for people, especially in Africa. The outcome is normally very
little. It is true in Asia as well as in Africa. Therefore, even donor agencies are emphasizing large
volume production and commercial farming through the involvement or support of the private
sector. However, private investors will be attracted to invest on large-scale commercial farming
if they see the scope or a high demand / market. For them the business environment and other
factors may play decisive roles. Despite having a very good location for aquaculture production,
many commercial ventures have failed because of lack of understanding of the nature of
markets, due to lack of supporting infrastructure, inputs, materials and socio-economic and
political conditions of the location. In many countries, aquaculture farming may receive
subsidies as it falls within the agriculture policy; however, in case of commercial farming, if
initial profitability mainly depends on subsidy, then there is a risk that it may fail at any time
because subsidy depends on government policy which can be changed with the change in
political situation. In many developing countries, political stability is often an issue and the
commitment of one government may not remain at the same level and in the same form.
Very careful selection of strategy is needed to meet the demand of fish seed for the expected
rapid development of aquaculture in Africa. Using experience of technology transfer to Africa,
by carrying out a literature review and gathering information from various sources including
direct personal communications with the prominent experts involved in Africa, conclusions
have been drawn and recommendations have been made.
14
1.2 Goal and objectives
The main goal of the present study is to review the status of, and recommend plans for the
production and supply of, adequate and high quality seed in Africa.
The specific objectives of this review are to:
 study the current status of seed production, demand and supply in Africa
 study the status of technological development in terms of seed production and supply
 recommend immediate actions and long-term policies and plans for seed production
and supply
 develop a concept note and a logical frame for national and sub-regional projects which
shall be submitted for funding
15
2. Overview of the seed production and supply
Aquaculture has its traditional roots in Asia, where saying goes: ‘there is rice in the field and fish
in the water”. Asian society, especially south-east Asian, is called ‘rice-fish society’. Farming of
fish might have started from trap ponds and holding of wild fish caught from rice fields and
natural water bodies for short periods in small pits or cloth enclosures such as mosquito nets.
Although there is no written evidence, people may have started culturing fish when they had
small fish caught in excess from the wild with the purpose of holding them for a while and
realizing that they grow bigger. Although aquaculture has advanced greatly, farming of many
aquaculture species still depends on the collection from the wild of various stages of fish seeds
(larvae, juveniles, fry and fingerlings). Breeding techniques have been developed for only about
100 species. The production of indigenous species of fish found in different localities is still
often dependent on wild seed supply because there is a lack of understanding about their
breeding. In some areas, people, especially children and women, may collect fry / fingerlings to
sell to the grow-out farmers.
As the quality and quantity of fish seed from the wild varies widely, farmers might have started
to think about producing fingerlings by themselves so that they do not need to depend on
others. In areas of less aquaculture development, farmers tend to establish vertically integrated
fish farms that include production of their own fingerlings in addition to grow-out farming. In
countries where hatchery-reared fish seed is available easily and reasonably cheaply, grow-out
farmers may rely on specialized hatcheries for their stock of fingerlings.
Availability of seed was for long been recognised as one of the pre-requisite for aquaculture
development. Consequently the construction of fish hatcheries has been considered the most
important form of donor assistance to developing countries towards achieving the goal of
aquaculture development. Therefore, public entities such as universities, research institutions
and government establishments have received technological and financial support for hatchery
construction in almost all the developing countries since the early stage of aquaculture
development, which started in the early 1950s and 1960s. Most of these organizations often
consist large concrete structures, most of which have not been used due to lack of maintenance
costs, expertise and other reasons. Earlier, fish seed supply was considered the responsibility of
the government probably because of specialized technology needed, especially carps, catfishes
and others. Direct technological assistance and training of human resources were major forms
of secondary assistance.
Although, public organizations continue to produce and supply fish seed, the role of the private
sector has been emphasized since the early 1980s. As a result, private hatcheries started to
emerge in most of the developing countries. The share of fish seed supplied by the private
sector gradually increased and the dependency for fish seed on public establishments gradually
reduced. Currently the private sector produces and supplies up to 90% of the fish seed in most
Asian countries, which is considered a remarkable success. The underlying reasons of this
success are mainly attributable to the policies enforced by government, technological support to
private individuals (e.g. farmers training) and high profitability of the seed production and
supply businesses, with profitability being the most important factor. As hatchery business
requires specialized knowledge and management techniques, few farmers can understand and
16
run it successfully. High capital investment as compared to the grow-out farming is another
obstacle. Therefore, relatively richer and better educated farmers invest in the hatchery
business. When the number of grow-out farmers has gradually increased in each of the
developing countries, the demand for fish seed has increased, often dramatically.
In recent years, aquaculture has become a series of specialized activities. For example, nursery
production has been included as part of hatchery production, but in many areas it started to
become a separate activity. Individual farmers, groups often organized as networks (e.g.
Bangladesh) or lead farmers of particular areas may ascertain fry demand in their areas, place
orders and purchase from specialized hatcheries, rear in nurseries and then supply to grow-out
farmers. Nursery production of fish fry requires from 1-3 months and is often seen as a good
business, giving a quick return as compared to grow-out farming that requires farmers to invest
at least 6 months and up to a year or even more. In some parts of Asia a technique of advanced
nursery production of fry /fingerlings involving ‘stunting’ has evolved, either intentionally or
unintentionally. There is a seasonal demand for fish seed - a high demand during the rainy
season and no or low demand during drought. Hatcheries struggle to match their production
with seasonal demand which is extremely difficult especially when their broodstock are
continuously producing eggs, such as is the case with tilapia. Hatchery operators keep their fry
at high density in hapas or ponds with limited feeding and wait until demand increases. This has
actually benefits to the hatchery operators as they can sell larger fingerlings at higher prices.
Farmers on the other hand can achieve higher survival when they stock larger fingerlings. As
fish has compensatory growth, stunted fish can catch up their growth potential when they get
favourable environmental conditions and adequate food. This technique has been used by many
farmers in Andhra Pradesh, India for carps e.g. Labeo rohita.
In terms of seed production and supply, the aquaculture sector in Asia is relatively advanced.
The type and size of hatcheries vary widely depending upon the species, objectives, capital
investment and level of management employed. There are backyard hatcheries selling a couple
of thousand fry a month to their neighbours and relatives in rural areas, whereas some
specialized hatcheries in Thailand produce and sell millions of fry per month. For example, a
hatchery operated by Nam Sai Farms, located in Prachinburi, which was established with the
technical assistance of AIT, produces up to 20 million mono-sex tilapia fry per month (Bhujel,
2011c). Another hatchery produces even more. Similarly, a catfish hatchery operated by
Phesthong Phan Pla (Case Study 3), located in Central Thailand, produces up to 5 million catfish
fry per day and has a capacity of producing up to 10 million fry per day. All these levels of
production are possible due to the development of the aquaculture activities as commercial
businesses which have relatively high profitability compared to other agriculture sectors in
most of these countries. In this section, brief descriptions are provided as to how tilapia and
catfish hatcheries have evolved. In addition, some species which have scope are also described
as case studies e.g. mullet, trout and carp hatcheries.
17
2.1 Wild seed collection and supply
The collection of fry and fingerlings from the wild to stock in ponds and lakes is a traditional
practice. Artificial breeding through hormone injection in many species has allowed a
breakthrough in aquaculture development. However, there are still many species which cannot
be bred using hormone injection. Farming of those species entirely depends on wild-caught
seed. In some other species artificial breeding is possible but not cost effective, such as with
grey mullet in Egypt. Culture of some higher-value marine species, such as still entirely depends
on fry collected from the wild because the survival of hatchery-reared fry is very low during
larval and swim-up stages, resulting in high cost compared to wild-caught seed. In general,
farmers perceive the quality of wild seed as better. However, wild seed collection or fishing for
aquaculture may be a controversial issue from an environmental and long-term sustainability
point of view.
Environmentalists claim that wild seed collection will reduce stock recruitment while
aquaculturists have argued that the number of collected fry will have a negligible effect on the
wild population. The grey mullet, for example, has a very high fecundity (up to 2 million eggs
per female) and the number of collected fry for aquaculture is a very small fraction of the total
seeds produced. It is also believed that the fry loss collected as seed for aquaculture is
considerably less than that from natural predation. However, there is little scientific proof either
against or for the sustainable collection of wild seed. Some countries have banned the collection
of seed from natural water bodies, while others are still undecided. Nevertheless, the main point
is how to bring about a balance so that wild stock is not affected due to excessive collection of
wild seed and there will be no shortage of fish seed for aquaculture purposes.
Cost-effective mass fry production technologies are available for tilapia and catfish whereas
technologies are yet to be developed for most indigenous species of interest. Countries have to
invest time, effort and funding if they prefer the promotion of indigenous species. In the case of
mullet and some other high values species, technologies have to be fine-tuned so that the cost of
seed production can be reduced drastically. In Egypt, the cost of hatchery-reared seed of mullet,
sea bream, sea bass and shrimp was found to be higher than that of wild-caught fry. Therefore,
those African countries facing declines in wild stocks should impose complete or partial bans on
wild seed collection and promote hatchery-produced seed. Those countries which still have
abundant wild stocks may continue to allow wild fry collection. However, the declining trend
(Table 5) of the wild fry supply of mullet in Egypt showed that, sooner or later, wild seed is
going to be depleted, and a policy has to be in place to make a gradual shift.
Table 5 Trend of wild seed production of mullet in Egypt (Saleh, 2008)
Year
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Liza ramada
Fry (million)
%
78.9
58.9
101.5
74.6
76.0
69.7
66.6
69.8
55.1
79.4
Mugil cephalus
Fry (million)
%
40.6
30.3
15.4
11.3
20.9
19.2
12.8
13.4
8.0
11.5
Valamugil sehli
Fry (million)
%
14.5
10.8
19.3
14.2
12.1
11.1
16.0
16.8
6.3
9.1
Total (millions)
134
136
109
95.4
69.4
18
2.2 Tilapia seed production and supply
Tilapias are native to Africa; however, their culture started in Asia during the early 1950s with
the introduction of O. mossambicus, often referred as Java tilapia, as it first appeared in Java,
Indonesia. However, because of prolific breeding in culture systems and early maturation, fish
didn’t grow as expected and also dominated other species once introduced to the natural
environment, thus becoming a problem. As result, tilapia has had a bad image in Asia.
Fortunately, another wave of tilapia introduction started when Nile tilapia was introduced to
Thailand in 1965 as a gift to the King of Thailand from the Emperor of Japan. They were kept in
a cemented pond in a Royal Palace called ‘Chitralada Palace’; therefore, the descendants of these
fish are known as the Chitralada strain. After the Thai Department of Fisheries received the fish
from the Royal Palace to carry out research and distribute to the farmers, it gradually became
popular and was able to overcome the bad image of O. mossambicus. Although it was an
introduced species, native of Africa, the Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) became very
common. Afterwards, it was introduced to many countries in Asia and around the world. Most
importantly, a number of genetic improvements and crossbreeding programs started due to its
potential and popularity. Recently red varieties produced by crossing between Nile tilapia (O.
niloticus) and the Java tilapia (O. mossambicus) has becoming popular in Southeast Asia. On the
other hand, Nile-Blue cross (O. niloticus x O. aureus) has become dominant in China as it can
tolerate low temperature and produces a relatively higher percentage of males which is not
adequate to stop recruitment production in grow-out systems.
Although there are a number of methods of tilapia seed production used by the farmers in
different parts of the world, there are four main techniques that have been important for the
commercial application. They are described in this section with a view to provide some insight
to the potential users so that they can make an informed decision in choosing a suitable method.
2.2.1 Mixed sex fry production
Fry are produced by stocking males and females in the same culture system, as tilapia can
naturally breed in confinement without any hormonal injection or environmental manipulation.
With a view to taking advantage of the ease of breeding, O. mossambicus was introduced to Asia
for culture in the early 1950s. This technique still exists in many parts of Asia even with Nile
tilapia (O. niloticus) which replaced the O. mossambicus, especially in rural areas where small
fish are also accepted. Normally, fry are collected from the edge of breeding ponds or from
hapas.
Natural breeding of tilapia in open ponds is the simplest method of seed production which is
still common in many parts of the world including Africa. Spawning and fry rearing take place in
the pond. According to Ngugi et. al., (2007), broodfish are stocked at the rate of 100 to 200 kg
brood stock per hectare and maintaining a sex ratio of 1:3 or 1:4 (males to females). Fry are
harvested from the pond every 15-21 days but more often if the average temperature is above
25°C. A female of 100-300 g spawns about 500 eggs per spawning, producing 6-15
fry/m2/month or 35-100 fry/female/month. The same brood fish can be used for up to 3-5
years. Using larger broodfish (~1 kg) and harvesting fry weekly or more often can increase seed
19
production to 45 fry/m2/month or 380 fry/female/month. Fry can also be collected by hand
nets from along the edges of the pond on a daily basis to further enhance productivity and avoid
loss of fry.
Broodstock can also be stocked in hapas, usually made up of fine nylon, plastic mosquito nets or
cotton mesh which make fry collection easier. They can be rectangular or square net enclosures
which are installed in ponds, lakes, or along river banks with slow moving current. Hapas
measuring 5, 10, 20, 40, 60 or even 120 m2 in surface area and normally 1.5 m deep are in use
in various parts of the world. In hapas, broodfish of 100 to 200 g each are stocked at a ratio of
about 1:5 - 1:7 (males to females) and the density of 4-5 brooders/m2. Fry are collected daily
after about 1 or 2 weeks after the stocking of breeders using fine-mesh dip-net by scooping out
fry. Fry productivity ranges from 150 fry/m2/month or 50 fry/female/month to over 880
fry/m2 /month or 300-400 fry/female/month. Feeding of broodstock is necessary in hapas on
daily basis. Collected fry should also be fed daily with a diet in powdered form at the rate of 510% biomass. Feeding should be done four times a day until they reach to a marketable size of 5
g. Breeding in hapas gives higher productivities compared to open pond system. Hapas make it
easier to collect fry and increase recovery of fry and also help maintain purity of broodstock.
They also make it easier to catch broodfish. However, hapas are relatively costly. Fish in hapas
are easily stolen by poachers, sometimes damaged by storms and fouling may occur which clogs
the net and restricts dissolved oxygen circulation. There is also a periodic cleaning cost
involved.
Tanks can also be used for breeding tilapias. Although they are relatively expensive to build,
managing broodfish and egg collection is easy. According to Ngugi et al., (2007), circular tanks
of 1-6 m diameter containing 0.5-0.7m of water are used, depending on the scale of operation.
Broodstock weighing 100-200g are stocked at 5-10 per m2 at a sex ratio of 1 male to 2-5
females. Broodstock are fed with a 30-35% crude protein diet at a rate of about 1.5-2% body
weight/day. Fry are collected once every 5 -15 days. Seed yields of up to 400-3,000
fry/m2/month or 200-1,500 fry/female/month can be achieved by this method.
Most farmers in Asia use mix-sex tilapia fry stocked with carnivorous fish such as catfish,
snakeheads and others. According to De Graaf (1996), the recruitment of Oreochromis niloticus
(stocked at 20,000-22,000/ha) can be completely controlled by stocking large African catfish,
Clarias gariepinus (6.8-130 g) and large Snakehead, Ophiocephalus obscuris (75-206 g) at
stocking densities of 8,300/ha or 725 snakeheads respectively when tilapia start producing fry.
Instinctive natural breeding behaviour of tilapia was considered the main advantage of tilapia
over other species but as farming became more commercialized, the need for the production of
large and uniform-sized fish increased. This created high demand for good quality all-male fry,
as males grow faster than females and there is no lost growth caused by reproduction when
stocked without females. It is almost impossible for the traditional mix-sex hatchery operators
to produce and supply a large quantity of fry using traditional methods of fry collection from
ponds due to the low number of eggs per spawn and asynchronous spawning which makes the
production of millions of fry unfeasible. Producing a sufficiently large quantity of good quality
seed as required by the aquaculture industry was a big problem in Thailand in the early 1980s.
20
2.2.2 Hybridization method
Hybridization is a commercial application in place in different parts of the world and has met
varying degrees of success. This practice has been very common in China. Chinese producers
cross two species of tilapias - female Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and male blue tilapia (O.
aureus) to produce Nile-Blue hybrid tilapia, which are reared in ponds (Qiuming and Yi, 2004).
This method produces a highly skewed ratio of males (up to 90%) in the offspring. Normally
small-scale farmers collect them from the grow-out ponds, nurse them to larger sizes (30-50 g
in size) in separate nursery ponds, select male fingerlings for grow-out, and sell female
fingerlings for poultry feed. As the percentage of males can be quite low, such as 85%, the
quality of fingerlings is sometimes considered poor. The results may even worse if the parent
stocks are not pure. This method is not adequate to support large scale commercial farming.
Therefore, several specialized hatcheries acquiring and maintaining pure stocks have emerged,
especially in Guangdong and Hainan provinces, producing over a billion hybrid tilapia seed
annually.
According to Qiuming and Yi, (2004), most hatcheries stock breeders at 1 fish/m2 density at the
ratio of 3:1 (females Nile tilapia and male blue tilapia). Pond size ranged from 1,200-2,500 m2 in
surface area with shallow water i.e. 100-120 cm in depth. Feeding is done with an artificial diet
(32-38% crude protein) twice daily (1100 and 1700 h) at 0.5-1.0% biomass/day. Fry can be
seen and harvested a few days later using fine mesh nets. The fry are then nursed to 2-3 cm
long, and sold to farmers. As the industry grew, the demand for high quality fry increased.
Tilapia fry of higher percentage males is the main criteria. Therefore, some hatcheries started
using male hormone (17α-methyltestosterone, MT) through feed, (38-40% crude protein; 50
mg MT/kg feed) which is used to increase the male percentage up to 98-100%. For this purpose,
swim-ups are harvested as early as possible and stocked at 4,000/m2 in outdoor cement tanks
of 20-50 m2 in surface area and 100-120 cm in water depth. Continuous aeration is supplied to
maintain the concentration of dissolved oxygen (DO) above 2.5 mg/L. The fry are fed MT-feed 4
times daily (0700, 1200, 1800 and 2200 h) at 10-15% body weight per day for 15-18 days.
When fry reach 2.5 cm long, they are transferred to hapas suspended in earthen ponds for
nursing for another 4-5 days before sale. From this method, survival of the juveniles normally
ranges from 90% to 95%.
Considering the huge potential, tilapia could be produced in much higher quantities than the
present production in China, had high quality fry been produced on the massive scale reached in
Thailand, where 4-5 large hatcheries produce over 10 million fry per month. Establishing
several such hatcheries would solve the problem of shortages of quality tilapia seed which has
been the limiting factor (Bhujel, 2011).
2.2.3 YY-male technology
This is a chromosome manipulation technique in which males with YY chromosomes, often
called ‘super males’, are produced by crossing hormonally sex-reversed females (genotypic
males) with normal males. The YY-males can then cross with any females to produce all-male
fry, in principle. However, the results have not been consistent in different environments (Pham
et al., 1998). There might be other factors, including environmental factors, in determining the
21
sex. This technology, and farmers using fish from the technology, occurs only sporadically in
various parts of the world, and most farmers are not confident enough in this technology. The
tendency is that farmers with limited knowledge are attracted towards it because of its
attractive name such as ‘super-males’ and most farmers who purchase are mostly first timers,
especially for testing purposes. Attempts to promote this technology in Thailand failed after the
farmers were found to be unsatisfied with the results. The main reason is that the high quality
tilapia seeds (over 99% male) of fast growing well established Thai Chitralada and GIFT strains
were already available for highly commercialized tilapia farming in Thailand. It has been noted
that some hatcheries in Zambia and other countries of Africa have purchased YY-males but have
achieved little success. It is important to provide relevant information to farmers and to ensure
that they be made aware of the facts concerning this technology.
2.2.4 Hormonal sex-reversal technique
Hormonal sex-reversal has proved itself as the most commercially viable solution in producing
all-male fry required by the sector. The technique, developed at the Asian Institute of
Technology (AIT), involves not only simple sex conversion but also management of broodfish in
hapas, collection of fertilized eggs, artificial incubation in a clean and controlled system, then
feeding fry with methyl-testosterone (MT) mixed with high quality feed as early as possible
(Case Study 1). All of these practices are carried out precisely to ensure that over 99% of the fry
population are males. While developing this system, various containers were tried such as
simple coke bottles and water bottles; however, locally-made semi-transparent fibre-glass jars
were found to be the most suitable, with high hatching rates (80%). The larger sized incubators
can accommodate about 0.2-0.3 million eggs. Recently, simple plastic jars or jugs have been
used as they are cheap, easily available and more transparent so that the hatchery operators can
see the egg movement easily and they are also lighter and easier to handle. As tilapia eggs are
heavy and remain at the bottom, they need to be moved gently so that they would not get
injured and stay at the bottom without getting adequate oxygen. To prevent this from
happening downward welling water flows into the jars and keeps the eggs suspended in the
water. Considerable efforts are needed to achieve overall survival from eggs to SRT fry (>60%)
and male percentage (>99%). These included determining the optimum dose of methyltestosterone in feed, frequency and length of feeding period and so on. As a result a high percent
of males (100% or close to) have been consistently achieved. As demand for fry is seasonal, a
method of delaying growth can be applied when they need to be kept for longer period (Little et.
al, 2003).
The question of how to produce large quantities of high quality fry has been solved after
developing and testing the technology on a commercial level. The only remaining challenge is to
disseminate it to make it as widely available as possible. Major strategies should include:
1. Inclusion of tilapia breeding techniques in education programmes / curriculae.
2. The running of a hatchery as a commercial unit for use as a demonstration site (Case
Study 1)
3. Organizing training and hosting interns
4. Providing consultancy services as a package (Case Study 2)
5. Further research and development, publication and promotion of the technology
22
Case Study 1 AIT Hatchery, Thailand
AIT Hatchery is located in the Pathumthani province of central Thailand, 42 km north of Bangkok. The
hatchery is run as a commercial operation within the campus of AIT, a not-for-profit organization which
offers post-graduate education. It was established as a part of research program using aid from the EU
and DFID. Mono-sex fry production technology was developed through a series of research trials.
Exploiting the results, a technology package was developed and commercialized. The hatchery serves as
a demonstration and training site and the site for post-graduate research. The hatchery produces on
average 0.5 million sex-reversed tilapia fry per month using about 10,000 broodstock (50% males and
50% females). All broodstock are maintained in hapas of 60 m2 at a density of 6 fish / m2. Broodfish are
stocked in the hapas for breeding when they reach 100 – 200 g and are replaced after 2-3 years. Feeding
is 0.8 – 1% biomass daily. Egg incubation is carried out in fibre-glass jars (4-6 litre volume) and/or
smaller glass jars. Yolk-sac larvae are reared in trays (Fig 2). Methyl-testosterone hormone is fed mixed
with feed for sex-reversal using the hapa-in-pond system. Feeding period is 21 days which starts
immediately after swim-up fry are transferred to hapas. After growing the fry for an additional 2-3 weeks,
they are graded and transferred to holding or conditioning tanks. These tanks are supplied with oxygen
using air stones which receive oxygen from an aerator. Water is filtered using gravel and slow sand filters.
Filtered water is sent to the top of the header tank. 2” pipe size and a 0.5 HP pump is adequate to send the
water up to that height.
Figure 2 Egg collection (left), larval rearing trays (middle) and sex-reversal hapas (right)
2.2.5 Financial aspect
Table 6 shows the capital investment and operational costs required to run a typical sexreversed hatchery based on an assumption of costs in Thailand.
23
Table 6 Capital and operating costs of a typical sex-reversal tilapia hatchery
SN
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
Equipment/materials
Standby generator (in case electric failure)
Pump for incubation system (3.5 - 5 HP)
Pump for tray system (4 HP)
Air-pump, air stones etc.
Pick-up truck (1)
Refrigerator
DO Meter (DO, Temp & PH)
Microscope (to check quality)
MT-Hormone (kg)
Alcohol for MT-mixed feed (US$/month) +
Fish meal for MT-mixed feed (US$/m) +
Hapas (sizes 5, 20, 120 m2) *
- Sex-reversal (5 m2)
- Nursing (40 m2)
- Broodstock (60 m2)
Scoop net - sets
Fry graders (3 sizes)
Egg incubator jars
Aluminium trays
Oxygen tanks
Plastic bowls
Plastic bags for packing
Water taps
Sub-total
SRT Hatchery operation costs (average costs in US$)
Unit rate
700
200
200
600
40,000
600
1,111
500
600
1,000
600
Units
1
1
1
2
1
2
1
1
1
12
12
15
40
75
18
90
25
8
600
3
100
3
100
30
100
6
3
20
100
3
20
1,000
100
Unit cost /
month
1 Personnel
Hatchery manager
Broodstock manager
Seed harvest staff
SRT and Nursing technicians (2)
Hatchery technician
2 SRT Hormone (g)
3 Alcohol (L)
4 Nursing feed (kg): fish meal, vitamin, pellet
5 Broodstock feed (kg)
6 Electricity cost
7 Communication costs
8 Office cost (papers, printing etc)
9 Fuel costs (car & grass cutters)
10 Water
11 packing supplies (plastic bags,O2,boxes)
12 Field supplies (fertilizer, lime, rope etc.)
13 Formalin (L)
14 Maintenance (pvc, pumps etc.)
15 Miscellaneous costs
16 Field materials (bowl, swing net, gloves)
Total
Unit rate / m
Total (US$)
700
200
200
1,200
40,000
1,200
1,111
500
600
12,000
7,200
1,500
1,200
7,500
108
270
500
800
1,800
60
100,000
300
178,949
Total
1
1
4
2
1
58
33
0.83
0.43
n/a
25
4
267
n/a
73
107
600
400
300
400
400
3
1
890
500
n/a
2
1
1
n/a
1
1
600
400
1,200
800
400
146
33
742
217
n/a
50
4
267
n/a
73
107
0.93
50
50
40
33
1
1
1
31
50
50
40
5,208
Remarks
24
Case Study 2 Quality Breeders, Bangladesh
This farm (Fig 3) is located in Bogra, approx. 200 km west of Dhaka. It was established 2 years ago).
Production capacity is about 50 million sex-reversed tilapia fry per year. Two managers from the company
were trained. A total of 100,000 broodstock (50% males and 50% females) were purchased from Thailand.
The farm was completely owned by Quality Feed Company. Land was purchased. Broodstock are
maintained in hapas of 60 m2 at the density of 6 fish / m2. Broodfish are stocked in hapas for breeding when
they reach 100 – 200 g and are replaced after 1.5 years. Feeding is 0.8 – 1% biomass daily. The number of
incubator jar (4 litres in size) used is about 50 and trays over 100. Methyl-testosterone hormone is used for
sex-reversal which was also purchased from Thailand. The hormone is mixed with fish meal. Sex-reversal is
done by feeding the MT mixed feed fed 5 times daily for 21 days. Fry are either sold immediately or after 1-2
weeks of nursery rearing at the same hatchery. Fry are sold through network of feed dealers. As the parent
company has a country-wide network, it has been very easy to get customers. The price per 100 fry is
US$1.1 whereas other hatcheries sell at only US$0.9. There are so many customers that demand outstrips
supply. The company has invested nearly US$0.5 million in this hatchery business seeing that there is the
possibility of obtaining a profit from the second year.
Figure 3 Egg collection (left) and incubation (right) in Bangladesh
2.2.6 Conclusion
A female tilapia produces about 1,000 eggs per spawning but matures early (within 3 months)
and repeatedly breeds without interruption, presumably once a month until it dies. When
mixed-fry are stocked into a pond, it becomes overcrowded and then fish do not grow and
become stunted. Cage culture prevents overcrowding, as the females cannot recover the eggs for
25
oral incubation. However, energy is wasted for reproduction as egg production occurs
repeatedly by females which are then wasted. Therefore, cage culture of mix-sex tilapia is not
very efficient in terms of energy conversion. On the other hand, some fertilized eggs may
develop as fry outside the cage in the lake or reservoir. All male culture prevents spawning and
also gives a better yield and growth uniformity as males grow around 30-40% faster compared
to females, and attain larger sizes. All-male seed can be produced by manual sexing; however, it
is very laborious and difficult when they are still small for stocking into the grow-out system.
Hybridisation has been the most common method used commercially in China. However, results
are still not promising unless pure lines are crossed. Another technique, YY male technology or
genetically male tilapia (GMT), is supposed to produce all male progeny in principle but it has
not giving consistent results at the farm level due to the same reason as hybridization. The most
promising and consistent results have been obtained by hormonal sex-reversal. The use of
steroid male hormone i.e. 17-α methyl-testosterone (MT) has become the norm for intensive
commercial production in most part of Asia, achieving 99-100% male fry if managed efficiently
following the proper technical guidelines. Managing a large number of adult broodstock
compared to other aquaculture species allows the production of millions of tilapia fry of high
quality (Bhujel, 2008; 2009). Some environmentalists question the use of steroids. However, the
US Food and Drug Agency (FDA) have approved it as the hormone is used when the fish are very
small and all the hormone is released into the water within a week after stopping the hormone
feeding. At the same time, the hormone in the water and sediment degenerates within a month
without any detectable harmful impacts. Therefore, the hormonal sex-reversal technology has
been widely accepted in many countries. There are now hundreds of private and public
hatcheries in Thailand, where the technology was first commercialized (Little et. al., 1997;
Bhujel, 2008). Recently, it has boomed in Bangladesh. More than 300 hatcheries are currently
using the method (Bhujel, 2008). Other countries such as Brazil, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia,
Mexico, Colombia, Zambia, Malawi, have already started and more are emerging.
2.3 Catfish seed production
The African catfish, Clarias gariepinus, is the second most important aquaculture species after
Tilapia in Africa. Most countries have its culture at various stages of development. Although
grey mullet is second in production volume, its culture is mainly restricted to Egypt. For African
catfish production, Nigeria is far ahead of all other African countries. It has been popular due to
its air-breathing nature which allows farmers to culture at high densities even in poor quality
water. Catfish ponds and farms can be found as small as 1 m2 size in Nepal (Bhujel and Nepal,
2008) to as large as a hectare in Thailand. With a view to providing required information, the
method of catfish seed production is described in this section.
2.3.1 Broodfish preparation
Under pond conditions catfish mature after 7-10 months when they reach a weight of 200 to
500 g. Spawning does not normally occur in ponds because the final stimulus associated with a
rise in water level and inundation of marginal areas does not occur. However, catfish can be
induced to spawn by hormonal injection using pituitary glands from donor fish. Catfish raised
26
from egg to maturity in a hatchery remain mature all year round and regression of the gonads
does not occur. This means adequate supplies of fry can be obtained throughout the year.
According to Ngugi, (2007), 200 - 300 brooders (1:1 sex ratio) are raised in a fertilized pond
(100-200 m2) at depths ranging from 1.0 to 1.5 m. The conditioning pond is stocked at a density
of 10-20 brooders per m2. Feeding is carried out with feed containing 40% crude protein, fed
three times a day at 1% of biomass. Some tilapia can be stocked so that they produce fry which
serve as supplementary food.
To prepare for spawning, feeding has to be stopped one day prior to stripping. A seine net is
used to gently capture the broodfish. After collection of the fish from the conditioning pond, fish
are dipped into a formalin bath to prevent the transfer of pathogens from fish to eggs and fry.
Fish are separated by sex by gently pressing the abdomen with the thumb - fecund females
release shiny greenish eggs. Mature males cannot be stripped and are selected by their size.
Females of about 0.5 to 1.0 kg have a substantial quantity of eggs and are easier to handle than
larger fish. But in some countries, such as Thailand, most hatcheries use smaller sizes (200 - 300
g).
2.3.2 Hormone injection
Hormone injection can be done using pituitary gland or synthetic hormones. For pituitary gland
use, either male or female catfish brooders are held without food for 24-36 hours in a container
at 25-30°C prior to injection with pituitary. Pituitary of other fish species e.g. common, Indian
and Chinese carps can also be used. For each female spawner, two pituitary donors of 500 g
average weight are used. When using fresh pituitary, donor fish should be killed and
decapitated less than an hour before planned injection. The pituitary gland is collected from the
donor and placed in a mortar containing 2 ml of physiological salt solution (9 g salt in 1 litre
water). Pituitary is ground and mixed with the saline solution. Alternatively, pituitary can be
stored for several months in 1 ml acetone in a cool dry place to be used later.
Synthetic hormone such as Luteinizing Hormone Releasing Hormone Analogue (LHRH-a) is
used in combination with Domperidone (commonly known as motilium). The rate for the first
injection is 10-30 μg with 3-5 mg per kg of broodstock respectively. The second injection is
normally after 6 hours and after about 10 hours they are ready for egg stripping.
For the injection of pituitary extract, a syringe with a needle 2.5 to 3.0 cm long and diameter of
0.7 mm is used to draw the pituitary suspension. The head of the fish should be covered with a
hand towel before inserting the needle at an angle of 45 degrees in the dorsal muscle. After
injection, rubbing is carried out with fingers on the intramuscular area to distribute the
suspension evenly. The fish is then release back into the tank. The second injection is given after
6 hours. Eggs are stripped gently from the female into a dry bowl and the number of eggs are
estimated (1 g = approx. 600-700 eggs). Male gonads are removed and macerated, squeezed and
immediately mixed with eggs distributing the milt evenly with the help of a feather. Clean water
is added to the bowl to facilitate mixing of eggs with the sperm by gentle swirling of the bowl
and moving with the feather.
27
2.3.3 Egg incubation
The fertilized eggs are poured into an incubating tray in a single layer. Within a few minutes
after fertilization, the eggs will absorb water and sticky attachment discs will develop. Eggs are
often incubated in flowing water with a gentle flow-through rate of 1-3 litres per minute. Dead
eggs, normally white in colour, are removed immediately. Eggs hatch within 20-57 hours
depending on ambient water temperature. Hatchlings must be separated from the egg shells to
avoid infections that can lead to mortality. At this stage of development, the hatching rate will
be about 50-60%.
Hatched fry are 5-7 mm in length and weigh about 1.2-3.0 mg. Due to the weight of the yolk-sac,
hatchlings will fall to the bottom of the container. They will cluster together in dark places in
the tank and will require a cover and aeration. Within 3 days the yolk sac will be absorbed and
the swim-up fry will start to search for food. With good management, 90-95% of the larvae will
survive and develop into fry. The fry are then transferred in buckets to weaning tanks or
nursery ponds (weaning tanks preferred).
2.3.4 Larval rearing
As larvae are very delicate, they need very good environmental conditions, especially in tanks
with a good water supply without chlorine. Stocking density should be around 100 larvae per
litre to get the best growth and survival. They are fed with rotifers or Artemia for the first 10-14
days. Fry can then be transferred to hapas or ponds and feed well with live and artificial feeds,
or to well-prepared (zooplankton-rich) nursery ponds. Water should be maintained at a
temperature of around 28°C. Catfish larvae normally begin feeding on the second or third day
after hatching, before the yolk sac is completely absorbed. Manufactured dry feeds should be
supplemented with Artemia nauplii or rotifers, and 10 to 12 daily feeding rations should be
provided for first three to four days of feeding. Feeding with live feeds has advantages over dry
feed. Artemia nauplii or rotifer feeding is stopped on the second or third day after the start of
external feeding. The larvae should then grow very rapidly after the start of feeding (up to
100% body weight/day).
2.3.5 Fry nursery rearing
During nursery rearing, tadpoles are serious predators that are abundant in ponds. Other
predators include backswimmers, insect larvae and copepods, Predation may commonly result
in up to 100% mortality during the yolk-sac stage but decreases gradually with an increase in
size and age of the fry. Fry of 14 days old are transferred to ponds previously well-prepared by
complete draining, drying, liming when needed, and proper fertilization to develop abundant
supplies of natural foods. Use of hapas in ponds can tremendously improve survival of fry.
Hapas should be covered with some shading materials to protect from the sun as well as from
predation by birds.
28
Case Study 3 Phesthong Phan Pla - Catfish Hatchery, Thailand
This hatchery (Fig 4) is located in Nongsue, Pathumthani Province, Thailand. It was established about 20
years ago. The farm has a production capacity of about 5 million fry daily. Fry are sold when they are 7-days
old before feeding is started. Customers are normally big farmers and order volumes per purchase of from
500,000 up to 3 million juveniles per farmer. Demand is even higher and may reach up to 10 million per day
but farm staff seem to be overloaded and not willing to take more pressure to raise the production over the
current production level, as they need more broodstock to manage. Most farmers in Thailand use hybrids of
male African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) and female Asian catfish (Clarias batrachus). Males and females are
reared in earthen ponds. The farm has about 30 such ponds. Males are ready when they attain 6-7 kg which
takes about 2 years to reach mature age.
About 4-5 males of 6 - 7 kg are required daily. They are sacrificed to remove testes which results in at least
24 kg of fish a day to be consumed by family or sold to others. Consequently the, total number of males
required for a single year is only 1,825 (5 x 365) or approximately 2,000 – 3,000 males. On the other hand,
the size of females ready for stripping is only 300 g (age 1 year of age and at least 4 times a year). The farm
strips about 1,000 females daily, equivalent to around 365,000 – 400,000/year. This produces about 40 kg of
egg mass/day that is equivalent to 10-12 million fry. Price of fry is quite low at US$0.5 per 1,000 fry. This
shows a total revenue from fry sale of 6 million x 0.017 = 104,000 Baht/day, this means 2.5 million Bt =
US$80,000 per month which is managed by 10 staff only. Broodstock management involves keeping males
and females separately in 20m2 ponds at a density of 6-7 fish/m2 with a high rate of feeding i.e. 15% of
biomass. Grow-out farmers use 20 fry /m2 fed with crushed chicken bones. Raising catfish with feeding pellet
is expensive.
Figure 4 Stripping of catfish eggs for fertilization
2.3.6 Financial aspect
Table 7 shows the capital investment and operational costs required to run a typical sexreversed hatchery based on an assumption of costs in Thailand.
29
Table 7 Capital and operating costs of a typical catfish hatchery in Thailand
Life
span
A: Costs
1. Fixed costs
Pond construction2
Tank construction
Incubation (10mx5m)
Incubation (5mx4m)
Holding (3mx2m)
Water supply system3
Hapa nets as substrates
Equipment (pumps)
Equipment blower)
Pick-up (transport)
Office and storage
Packing/open space (5m x 5m)
Diesel Generator (back up)
Oxygen cylinder
Miscellaneous
Rate -
Units
(Year)
Thai Baht
US$1
Thai Baht
10,000
4
40,000
10
4,000
133
15,000
12
180,000
20
9,000
300
5,000
3,000
100,000
1,000
10,000
30,000
650,000
300,000
2,000
60,000
3,000
20,000
10
8
2
112
5
3
1
1
25
1
5
1
50,000
24,000
200,000
112,000
50,000
90,000
650,000
300,000
50,000
60,000
15,000
20,000
20
20
20
2
3
3
7
20
20
5
20
1
2,500
1,200
10,000
56,000
16,667
30,000
92,857
15,000
2,500
12,000
750
20,000
83
40
333
1,867
556
1,000
3,095
500
83
400
25
667
272,474
9,082
1,560,000
216,000
72,000
902,400
52,000
7,200
2,400
30,080
Sub-total
2. Variable costs
Labour
Electricity
Communication
Feed (kg)4
Broodstock
Males (kg)5
Females (kg)6
Pituitory gland7
Oxygen filling8
Miscellaneous9
Total
Operational costs
per year
10,000
18,000
6,000
23.5
13
1
1
1
130,000
18,000
6,000
23.5
Units/yr
12
12
12
38,400
60
250
10
130
1,000
1
1
1
1
1.0
60
250
10
65
1,000
21,840
12,000
12,000
160
160
1,310,400
3,000,000
120,000
10,400
160,000
7,351,200
7,623,674
43,680
100,000
4,000
347
5,333
245,040
254,122
160
160
360,000
12,000,000
56,000
360,000
12,416,000
400,000
1,867
12,000
413,867
Per year
4,792,326
159,744
Per
month
399,361
13,312
Sub-total
Grand total
-
B: Income
Fry sale (2-days old)10
Brood fish (African male)
Brood fish (Asian females)
1.5
50
30
Sub-total
C: Net profit
5,000,000
7
12,000
75,000
350
360,000
30
Notes on Table 7:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
US$1 = Thai Baht 30
Ponds: 200 sqm., renting excavator
Incl. header tanks, sand filter & pumps
20 kg per bag and 470 Baht per bag
20 days a week and 8 months/year
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
20 days a week and 8 months/year
One kg requires 1 gland
One tank can fill up to 500 bags
Towels, bowls, scoop nets, syringes etc.
Average production 5 million per day
2.4 Other species seed production and supply
2.4.1 Mullet seed production and supply
Grey mullet is the second most important aquaculture fish species in Egypt. Egypt has a long
history of mullet farming, especially in the Nile Delta region for many centuries (Saleh, 2008).
Restocking of inland lakes in Egypt is traditionally carried out by collecting wild seed of mullet.
There are three types of mullet - flathead grey mullet (Mugil cephalus), thinlip mullet (Liza
ramada) and the bluespot mullet (Valamugil seheli) - which are commonly cultured in Egypt.
Aquaculture production of mullet in Egypt increased sharply after 1995, with Egypt becoming
the leading country in Africa as well as in the world as a whole, with a record production of
210,388 tonnes in 2009 (Table 3).
Mullets are usually grown in extensive or semi-intensive ponds and pens in shallow coastal
waters. More importantly, mullets can be polycultured with common carp, grass carp, silver
carp, Nile tilapia and milkfish, and can be reared in fresh, brackish and marine waters. Fry of
10–15 g size acclimatized to the appropriate salinity, and stocked at about 6,000–7,500/ha, can
produce a harvest of 4–6/tonnes/ha/crop. In fertilized ponds, after an on-growing season of 7–
8 months in the subtropical region, flathead grey mullet can reach 750g to 1 kg. Some farmers
grow over two successive seasons to harvest larger fish (1.5–1.75 kg). The choice of rearing
period and technique depends on market demand and economics. Rice and wheat bran can be
used as feed as a supplement to the natural feed in ponds. Mullet have addition benefits to the
farmers because, when other species are fed and ponds become green, mullets feed on the
natural feed, detritus and leftover feeds.
Farming of grey mullet mainly depends on wild seed collection. Hatchery production of mullets
has been practiced in few countries such as USA, Taiwan and Italy. Efforts have also been made
in Egypt. However, hatchery produced seed is costlier than wild-caught seed. Table 5 shows that
mullet seed supply has drastically declined by around 50%, indicating that seed supply is
becoming one of the major bottlenecks for the development of mullet aquaculture. This also
provides the evidence for the need of mass-scale production of hatchery-produced seed. Finetuning of existing technology is necessary.
31
Some African countries might be considering promoting mullet farming. With a view to
providing some details of the mullet seed production, a brief description is provided in this
section (Case study 4, adapted from FAO, 2012).
Case Study 4 Grey Mullet (Mugil cephalus) seed production and supply
Adult mullets migrate during autumn and winter to the sea in large aggregations for spawning. A female
can release from 0.5–2.0 million eggs depending upon the adult size. Eggs hatch in about 48 hours after
fertilization, becoming larvae of approx. 2.4 mm long. When the larvae are 16–20 mm, they migrate to
inshore waters and estuaries, where they are collected as seed for farming during late August to early
December. Fine seine nets are used to collect shoals of fry, which are then transferred in seawater to
hapas or shore aggregation tanks for a few hours. They are then transported by trucks to separate
nursery units, or nursery facilities in grow-out farms. On arrival, they need to be acclimatized, especially
in terms of salinity; this takes place over several hours, during which water from the nursery pond is
gradually added and mixed with the transport water. Mortality rate can be up to 100% during the
following two weeks if this process is neglected or not properly carried out.
The closed-cycle commercial production of Mugil cephalus is not yet common. Induced spawning and
production of fry has been achieved on an experimental and semi-commercial basis in USA and Taiwan,
and the production of mullet fry on a limited scale for aquaculture has been reported in Italy, Israel and
Egypt. In these systems large numbers of sexually mature individuals (over two years of age, 32–50 cm
long and 1.0–2.1 kg each) are kept under optimum environmental conditions i.e. at 32–35‰ and 12–15
°C with limited physical disturbance prior to spawning. Ripe fish are selected and placed in plastic or
fibreglass tanks filled with seawater saturated with oxygen at a 2–3:1 male: female ratio. Females are
injected with regulated and successive doses (2–3 injections) of pituitary gonadotropin. Females spawn
12 hours after the final injection. Spawning is heralded by a violent quivering of the male, which liberates
sperm as a response of the release of eggs. Eggs are produced at a rate of 650–850/g female body weight.
Mullet eggs are spherical (880–980 µm) and transparent, with a smooth surface and a single large oil
globule making the egg extremely buoyant. Eggs are carried with the overflow of water, sieved and
transferred to incubation jars. Eggs are incubated at a temperature of 22–24 °C in seawater (30–32‰)
saturated with oxygen. Hatching takes place after 50–64 hours. After hatching, the larvae are transferred
to fibreglass indoor tanks and fed with live food (rotifers, and later with Artemia nauplii). Larvae are kept
in indoor tanks for 14 days, and then transferred to larger tanks until they reach 10–20 mm before
transport to outdoor nursery ponds. After acclimatization, fry are stocked in earthen nurseries at high
densities (up to 125/m²), where they depend mainly on natural food. From 2.5 to 5.0 tonnes/ha of animal
manure are added to the soil before filling with water; then chicken manure and chemical fertilizers
(usually phosphate and nitrates) are added in suitable amounts on a weekly basis to keep secchi disc
readings of 20–30 cm. Rice or wheat bran is sometimes used as an additional source of food. Fry are kept
in the nursery ponds for 4–6 months (from August or November till April) until they are about 10 g.
Optimum temperatures are 20–26 °C, both in the nursery and grow-out stages. The fingerlings are then
caught, either by draining the nursery ponds into catch ponds or by netting. Over-wintered mullet
fingerlings are sold for on-growing in various culture systems but especially for semi-intensive
aquaculture. When fry supply exceeds demand, they are retained and grown-on to market size in the
nurseries.
2.4.2 Rain bow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) seed production
At least 7 countries have tried to produce trout in Africa with the objective of utilizing cold
water in mountainous regions. Rainbow trout is one of the most widely distributed freshwater
fish species and has been farmed commercially or on trial basis in over 100 countries
worldwide. Trout is very delicious and high value species. Its global production has doubled
over the last decade, is three times the amount produced 20 years ago and 6 times the amount
produced 30 years ago. The major trout producing countries are Chile, Norway, France, Italy
and Spain. According to the FAO (Stat+), rainbow trout is produced in South Africa (1,300 ton),
32
Lesotho (107 ton), Morocco (100 ton), Kenya (51 ton), Reunion (40 ton), Malawi (15 ton) and
Tanzania (7 ton). This shows that South Africa dominates (80%) in trout production. With a
view to utilize the vast water resources of Mt Kenya, attempts have been made to culture trout
in two experimental stations and at least three private farms in Kenya with a view to supply fry
for game fishing and also for farming (Coche and Balarin, 1982). However, farming has not
taken off. One of the main constraints has been seed production and supply, and also hot
weather in summer.
In the Asia-Pacific region, trout is produced in Iran, Japan, Australia, Korea and Taiwan.
Although production in many countries is not recorded on the FAO database, rainbow trout has
been tried in India, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri
Lanka. However, DIAS (2003) has reported that it has been introduced to these countries for
various purposes. Despite having a great scope, commercial farming in these countries has not
yet taken off and is still at the research and development stage.
Rainbow trout is an exotic carnivorous species which can survive at water temperatures of 0 to
25°C with the optimum temperature of 13 - 18°C for growth and 9-14°C for the spawning and
egg incubation. The consistency of environmental conditions with regard to water temperature,
volume and quality is very important for trout culture. Trout farming might be an option in
parts of Africa where cold water is available. Therefore, seed production techniques practiced in
Nepal, where trout farming program has been commercialized, is provided along with costbenefit analysis (Table 8) in Case Study 5 (Rai et. al., 2005).
33
2
Table 8 Cost benefit analysis of a private trout farm in Nepal with 8 tanks and Area = 215 m )
1) Initial cost /capital cost
SN
Items
1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Land (1,500 m2)
Raceway construction
Water supply pipes
Store construction
Drag net (5m long)
Graders/cages/hapas
Pumps/equipment/balance
Others (buckets, etc)
Sub - total
Bank loan
8
Cost
(NRs)
Units
1,829
1,829
451
610
15
220
61
37
5,051
4,268
Annual
Depreciation
(NRs)
91
23
30
5
44
12
18
224
20
20
20
3
5
5
2
Remarks
Own land
2) Annual operation costs
Particulars
A. Variable costs
1
Feed for table fish
2
Feed for advance fry (~10g)
3
Fry (2g size)
4
Wages
5
Glass ware /tools/nets
6
Farm fuel
7
Electricity
8
Others(oil, medicines etc.)
Sub total
B. Fixed/non-operating cost
9
Salary for manpower
10
Bank interest (14% ) Year-I
11
Loan pay (installment I)
12
Depreciations
13
Maintenance (5% o costs)
14
Telephone/communication
15
Gasoline for transportation
Sub total
Total annual cost
Total production (80% survival)
Cost of per unit production
Total income
Total net profit (US$)/year
Net Profit (per kg)
Annual rate of return (ARR)
Quantity
4,500
200
15,000
365
2,300
2,300
Unit
Total
price (US$) Cost (US$)
UnitS
kg
kg
no.
US$
US$
US$
US$
US$
US$
60
75
2
3,293
183
366
244
61
12
73
61
4,293
Man/day
US$
US$
US$
US$
US$
US$
US$
US$
kg
US$
Kg
150
14
668
598
854
224
161
49
146
2,699
6,992
%
350
3.0
9,817
2,825
1.2
40.4
Case Study 5 Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
34
Trout can breed after two years and spawn up to 2,000 eggs.kg-1 female; however, breeding activity and
quality egg development depends on the quality of the feed provided as well as other management
practices. Brood fish are fed with 35% protein diet at the rate of 2-3% biomass of fish once or twice daily.
Rainbow trout can be bred artificially once a year from December to February and the same group of
brood fish can be used twice with good results but less hatching rate compared to the first spawning
group. The eggs are stripped from females and then fertilized with the milt obtained from males (Figure
5). Normally, one male can supply enough milt for the eggs of two females with a good fertilization rate.
The fertilized eggs are incubated in incubation trays containing clean water supplied at 3-7 L.sec-1 flow
rate and dissolved oxygen >7 mg.L-1. Hatching takes place within 20-30 days at 9-14°C.
The new hatchlings (0.08 g in size) take about 2 weeks to reach the swim-up stage. The swim-up stage
hatchlings are provided with a starter feed containing 35-40% crude protein at the rate of 15-20%
biomass at 2-hour intervals until they are 3 g in size, which takes about 10 weeks. After the fish are 3 g in
size, they will be fed at 8-10% of biomass at 2 hour intervals until they become about 5 g in size.
Alternatives to starter feed have also been explored for the nursing and rearing of trout larvae. Frozen
raw buffalo liver feed has been proven to be one of the best alternatives, showing healthier and better
growth compared to other feeds. Egg custard has also been found to be a potential alternative to the
starter feed (Pradhan 1998). The growth of trout receiving 18.5 % of fats was dynamic and faster.
Occasionally deformed alevins of rainbow trout that were produced may have been due to high water
temperature during the spawning season. Locally prepared diets for rearing trout fry and fingerlings can
be prepared using dried shrimp (20-28%), soybean or soybean meal (30-35%), wheat/rice or wheat/rice
bran 10-25%), oil cakes (5-10%), vitamins (1%) and minerals (1%). Additional vitamin C (0.1%) should
be supplemented for young fry of less than 1 g in order to improve disease resistance thereby improve
survival.
Figure 5 Mature female trout (left) and milt mixing with eggs (right)
2.4.3 Carps seed production and supply
Common carp (Cyprinus carpio)
Based on the production record reported to FAO (FishStat database), common carp is produced
in more than 10 African countries. Out of 16,089 tonnes total annual production, however, over
75% is produced in Egypt (12,000 ton). Madagascar (2,800) is the next highest where 17.4% of
the total volume is produced. A limited amount is produced in other countries including Kenya
(373 ton), Morocco (340 ton) and Tunisia (329 ton), with other countries such as Uganda,
35
Zambia, South Africa, Rwanda, Malawi, Cameroon and Lesotho producing less than 100 tons
each. This shows that there have been some efforts but other than in Egypt, commercial
production has not taken place. Therefore, there is a need to identify the problems and address
them so that effective plans for the commercial farming of common carp would be possible at
least in those countries where it has been already introduced. With a view to providing the
technique, breeding technique has been described as below (Case Study 6, FAO, 2012).
Case Study 6 Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) seed production and supply
Breeding of common carp is very easy which can be done naturally using nests, aquatic weeds and or
grasses in tanks and ponds. In tropics common carp breeds throughout the year although January-March
and July-August are the most suitable seasons. Submerged aquatic plants serve as substrates for eggs
onto which they attached until they hatchery. After hatching to become fry of 4-5 days, they are stocked
into nursery ponds. In popularly known 'Sudanese method', broodfish are kept in or tanks/ponds,
segregated by sex. Matured broodfish are transferred to small ponds (25-30 m²). A raft like nest called
'Kakabans' made of grasses or some sorts of fibre ropes species), are installed into the ponds. The fish lay
their eggs on both sides of the kakabans. When spawning is completed, the nests are transferred to
hatching/nursing ponds. In China Aquatic weeds or simple floating palm leaves are used as spawning
substrates. Similarly in Europe, even smaller ponds with an area from a few hundred m² up to 10-30 ha
are used where fry can either be harvested from these large ponds, or may remain there up for rearing to
fingerling size.
Induced breeding using hormone is also practiced. Broodfish are kept in oxygenated water of 20-24°C.
They are given two doses of pituitary gland injection, or a mixture of GnRH/dopamine antagonist, to
induce ovulation and spermiation. The eggs are fertilized (applying the 'dry method') and the
adhesiveness of the eggs is eliminated using salt/urea application, followed by a tannin acid bath (the
'Woynarovich method'). Incubation is carried out in Zoug jars. The hatched fry are kept in large conical
tanks for 1 to 3 days, and are usually stocked at the stage of 'swim-up' or 'feeding fry' into properly
prepared ponds. Approximately 300,000 to 800,000 newly hatched fry can be expected from a single
female.
Nursing of fry can be done in shallow, aquatic weed-free drainable ponds. Nursery ponds must be
prepared before stocking to eradicate the unwanted predators and then fertilizing to grow zooplanktons
such as rotifer which are the main first food of fry. Fry can be stocked at 100-400 /m². Supplementary
feeds, such as soybean meal, cereals meals, meat meal, or mixtures of these materials, should be applied.
Simply, rice/maize bran or polish can also be used for feeding fry. After nursing period of 3 to 4 weeks, fry
should attain the size of 0.2-0.5 g with the survival rate is 40-70%. Fry can also be nursed at the similar
densities in tanks of 5-100 m2 with water recirculating system. A few hundred fry per m² can be stocked.
Collected zooplankton and fine particle size meals, or complete starter foods can be used. Industrial type
systems, such as raceways, or systems are also suitable for nursing.
Fingerlings are normally produced in manured or fertilized ponds. Depending on the required final size of
fingerlings, 50,000-200,000 fry/ha can be stocked in temperate zones, preferably in polycultural systems
where the proportion of common carp can be up to 50% to produce 30-100g in 2-3 months. The stocking
density should be lower (50,000-70,000/ha) if larger size fingerlings are to be supplied.
Frequent application of manure is necessary to maintain the plankton population. Agricultural byproducts or complete feed pellets can be fed during nursing.
36
3. Issues in Seed Production and Supply
In general, fish seed may mean larvae, fry, fingerlings and larger fingerlings depending upon the
species. Therefore, seed quality indicators may vary for each form of seed stage.
3.1 Seed quality issue
In general seed quality indicators are considered as follows:
a. High survival during transportation, immediately after a few days of stocking and also
at the final harvest, is considered one the most important indicators of quality. However,
it cannot be predicted just by seeing the seed. Therefore, the survival has to be guessed
at the time of purchased.
b. Fast growth is probably the second most important indicator. As for survival, the
farmer has to guess or trust the hatchery operators’ claims. As fish have compensatory
growth, stunted fry might be considered good quality as they may grow faster
immediately when stocked in the pond. Therefore, stunting has been a standard seed
production method in India for carps.
c. Size of fish seed is the indicator which farmers/middlemen can see before they decide
to purchase. In general the larger the size, the better the quality. This is mainly because
larger ones are more predator-resistant; therefore, have higher survival when stocked
into the pond. Most farmers prefer larger seed and sometimes even demand and wait for
larger seed. Therefore, hatchery owners have to consider it and if necessary have to
include a plan for nursing and stunting. However, this may require additional space,
effort and cost.
d. Shape is another indicator that buyers can see directly on the spot before deciding to
purchase seed. A small number of deformed fry, if seen on the fry population, may
compel a buyer not to purchase. These deformities can be genetic. Even though few
deformed fry may be seen at the time of purchase, there is a risk that more deformed
fish may show when they grow bigger. The presence of up to 1% deformed fry may be
considered as unproblematic. However, hatchery owners continuously need to cull them
while preparing the stock for sale or used for them so that those genes will not be
transmitted to further generations.
e. Movement / activity showed by the fish fry when hitting the container or producing
some frightening signal, and also swimming activity, may indicate how healthy they are.
Dull-looking fry and fish exhibiting circular movement means there might be the
possibility of disease or parasite infestation..
f. Colour of scales, gills, skin or some other parts are considered an indicator of quality e.g.
a dark bluish colour is considered an indicator of good quality for sex-reversed fry of
Nile tilapia.
g. Response to stress test: This has not been common practice and is still under research.
The basic principle involves the exposure of fish seed to heat, salinity, and bacteria to
determine LC50, which can demonstrate the comparative strength of fish seeds
available on the market.
37
As the aquaculture industry matures, demand for better quality fish seed increases. Other
quality factors might become as important as growth and survival, for example, tilapia seed that
gives high fillet yield, desired coloration, disease resistance and late maturing fish with potential
to remove the need for hormonal sex reversal could be a major advantage (Little, 2004).
As the indicators of fish seed quality are still difficult to assess or determine before they are
purchased by the farmers, farmers will be satisfied only if their fish survive well and grow fast,
thus giving good profits. If the farmers lose money then the blame game starts. As there are
many factors and players involved it is not easy to pin point the possible causes, especially when
the farmers are less experienced. Most of the time, farmers, the ultimate users, perceive quality
in very different ways (AOP, 1999a,b,c; Little, 2004).
Seed quality, as with any product on the market, can be more about perception in most cases.
For example, in Bangladesh, people regard tilapia or other fish sourced from Thailand as better
quality than locally purchased. Therefore, hatchery operators sometimes may need to consider
such issues when deciding sourcing of broodstock. Similarly, in some aquaculture species wild
seed is considered better than hatchery produced seed. In northern Vietnam, fish seed produced
by the government is considered of higher quality than that of private companies as most
government hatcheries have better facilities to maintain broodstock and carry out research in
broodstock selection and development (AOP, 1999c).
Seed production is necessary not only for aquaculture purposes but also for stocking into
natural water bodies, especially lakes and reservoirs. Breeding of indigenous fish species
becomes an urgent need because when dams are constructed for hydro power generation fish
migration is obstructed. As a result, a drastic decline in indigenous species upstream is common.
Therefore, releasing fry may be necessary to maintain the population.
3.2 Seed Supply Models
Most people think once hatcheries are established they produce high quality seed but in reality,
there are many factors and steps involved before seed reaches the farmer’s pond. Seed quality
may deteriorate at any point due to a minor mistake. It largely depends on how seed is
delivered to the farmer’s pond. There can be high mortality before and during transport due to
rough handling, poor conditioning and packing, bad and bumpy roads, unexpected heat / cold
and so on. Therefore, delivery of high quality seed can be an issue. If the middlemen or traders
are involved, they may lie about the source to manipulate the prices. While making plans and
policies, the arrangement of an appropriate supply model has to be made in order to ensure that
high quality seed produced by the hatcheries reaches the farms without a deterioration in
quality.
Depending upon the local context, an appropriate seed supply model or various combinations
can be selected. In some countries e.g. Thailand where most farmers possess at least a pick-up
truck and surface road network is quite good, seed transportation is not a big concern.
Normally, farmers themselves can afford to drive to purchase fish seed. There are also
middlemen who buy fry, nurse them and sell to the farmers in the area. However, in some other
38
countries where roads are not good and poor or mid-level farmers cannot afford pick-up trucks
e.g. Nepal, the government provides seed transportation as a kind of subsidy. In Bangladesh,
there are networks of seed nursing groups. Middlemen or fry traders purchase small fry at
cheaper rates from hatcheries, nurse them for about 2-3 months and then sell larger fingerlings
to the grow-farmers at higher prices.
Based on the existing systems, various seed supply models can be seen as functional (Fig 6). In
countries where the aquaculture industry is still in its infancy, road conditions are poor, and no
other accessory industries exist, farmers tend to produce their own seed on-farm so that they
do not need to be dependent on others. In contrast, farmers can depend on others for fry in
those countries where either the government or private sector is providing the seed and
technical services directly. In other cases, middlemen, who can be nursery producers or only fry
traders, play an important role, as in Bangladesh. Their roles are followings (AOP, 1999a):
- linking with fry producers, nursery producers and farmers
- better understand and fulfil the real needs of local farmers
- provide specific information on the species and culture methods; therefore, often
regarded as extension agents
- nurse and hold fry few weeks to several months to provide the right size of the seed
based on the needs of the farmers
- often over-winter to supply early season in the following season
- sometimes provide fry on loan / credits, so that farmers can pay later or when they
harvest
- transport fry to the pond site so the grow-out farmers do not need to worry about
travelling to hatchery and arranging transport
Wild seed
Government
Private
(Extension offices or
research institutions,
colleges, universities
(Farmers,
Cooperative or
companies)
Bait
s
Fry for growout
Fishermen
Hatchery seed
Traders or
middlemen
Nursing farmers
Grow-out farmers
Figure 6 Fish seed supply model
39
3.3 Role of Public and Private Sectors
As shown in the Fig 6, seed production and supply can be activities of both the public as well as
the private sector. The ultimate goal is to develop a system in each country so that fish seed
production and the supply chain operate smoothly. Therefore, the role of government and
public sector is to get involved and support the system when necessary. Their major role should
be to help build capacity and hand over to the private sector.
Wild seed is collected by fishermen and in some areas by women and children who may or may
not be the families of fishermen. Hatchery-produced seed has traditionally been produced
predominantly by the public sector, mainly government extension and research stations,
universities, colleges and NGOs, as these bodies have received technical and financial support
from international donors or national governments. However, the trend is that the private
sector is becoming increasingly involved possibly due to the encouragement by the government
policies and more importantly because of lucrative profits. In many countries in Asia, fish seed is
produced by private farmers or companies. Recently,, large corporations have invested in tilapia
hatcheries in Thailand, Bangladesh and other countries as one of their core businesses e.g.
Charoen Pokphand (CP) and P. Charoen Groups in Thailand, and Meridien group and Quality
Breeders Limited in Bangladesh. They have been technically assisted by the public sector in
their countries or by international organizations, especially for technical aspects through
training or direct consultancy services. The tilapia seed production capacity and quality
standards have tremendously increased and been maintained only after the private sector’s
involvement. The public sector was found to be quite slow in recognising and responding to this
need, often ignoring the need due to various reasons including lack of funds, human resources
and incentives to the professionals. Whereas the private sector is very quick, it waits until it can
see at least one successful model and until its is confident on the technology packages
developed and offered to it. The advantages of large private companies becoming involved in
seed production is that they can afford to hire high calibre personnel for the continuous
development of broodstock, maintain various lines, carry out further research, comply with
government guidelines and certification by independent bodies and offer better services, free or
partially free of cost to the middlemen and farmers such as fry transport, the distribution and
publication of grow-out manuals, water quality testing services and so on.
Some African countries have high levels of unemployment. In such cases, government policy can
aim to provide jobs and business ideas to as many people as possible. In such cases, establishing
many small hatcheries may be an option. But these may not be able to compete with large
hatcheries unless they upgrade themselves gradually. Therefore, the best policy for the
government would be to promote efforts to establish a few but large-scale hatcheries and
encourage individual farmers to do the nursing and grow-out. This can be carried out gradually..
There is always a chance that a grow-out farmer starting from less than a hectare farm may
eventually turn into a large seed producer company responding to the need of the fastest
growing sector.
In most countries, food fish farming may be carried out in isolated places and be practiced in
groups. The role of government would be to provide information where the fish seed is available
40
and link them with the fish hatcheries. When the sector grows, additional responsibilities could
include the regulation and certification the seed producers and the provision of information to
the farmers about the location.
One of the fundamental questions can be whether a country should make a big effort and spend
quite a large sum of funds to establish such large hatcheries if the private sector is not mature
enough to do so. Similarly, another question is whether a country should depend on a
neighbouring country for quality seed readily available at reasonable prices. This was an issue
in Laos. Despite a huge potential for tilapia farming in Laos and its being one of the top ten
tilapia producing countries, the Laotian government finally decided to make efforts in
supporting the local trading networks to connect with the large private sector hatcheries in
neighbouring Thailand rather than making efforts in establishing and running hatcheries
(Haitook et al., 1999). Therefore, establishing a few large hatcheries in a few African countries
with a plan of connecting other countries would be the best strategy as fry can be transported
long distances. For example, tilapia fry packed in plastic bags can survive up to 36-40 hours
provided they are conditioned overnight and packed at low density in the bags. However,
species such as catfish may not survive long distances as they are carnivorous and aggressive in
nature.
According to the World Bank (2007), the Government of China encouraged investment in
hatcheries, setting about establishing quality control policy and fish seed certification standards
and procedures and even encouraging the production of quality seed and supporting its
distribution (Hishamunda and Subasinghe 2003). Similarly, in Vietnam, the Ministry of Fisheries
initiated an Aquaculture Seed Development Program and National Broodstock Centres (NBCs)
in 1999 to carry out broodstock development program and help expand fish hatcheries and to
improve the quality of fish seed from commercial hatcheries. Now NBCs produce and distribute
quality broodstock, provide training in broodstock management practices and advanced
hatchery technology, and even maintain gene banks. Other countries also have national
breeding programs e.g. National Breeding Program for Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout in
Norway, the National Tilapia Breeding Program of the Philippines and so on. Favourable
investment conditions have fostered private programs in Chile, the United States, and elsewhere
(Olsen et al., 2003). In Thailand, National Aquaculture and Genetic Research Institute (NAGRI)
which conducts genetic improvement of aquaculture species.
4. Current Status in Selected African Countries
There are several species of fish as candidates for culture in countries where aquaculture has
developed rapidly. However, in Africa there are very limited species available for aquaculture.
Tilapias and African catfish are the predominant species commonly cultured. Nevertheless,
there are a number of distinct variants in the tilapia group itself. They are further divided
according to body colour, shape, feeding and breeding habits, and found in different river
systems and various natural habitats. Most African countries are in favour of maintaining their
own species rather than mixing up the genetic pool from other areas or, in other words,
introducing new species. Fortunately, most tilapias are maternal mouth-brooders and so the
hatchery techniques developed and applied extensively in Asia for Nile tilapia can be applied.
41
In this section, the latest information about overall aquaculture production obtained either from
personal communications and / or literature is provided. The few countries which have
aquaculture development potential, and from where information was available, have been
emphasized.
4.1
Cameroon
The WorldFish Center has emphasized the scarcity of quality fingerlings and the price
affordability by farmers as the constraint faced by most farmers in Cameroon (Pouomogne and
Pemsl, 2008). Farmers purchase mixed-sex tilapia seed to start farming and subsequently use
juveniles harvested from the preceding grow-out cycle. Before the 1990s, public hatcheries
were supplying fish seed. After government changed the policy in 1992 handing over the
responsibilities to the private sector, all public aquaculture units started to shrink. As a result,
only 5 of the 32 stations remained functional (Pouomogne and Pemsl, 2008). The five surviving
stations are at Bamenda, Yaoundé, Foumban, Bertoua and Ebolowa. These have been managed
as self-sustaining business and have been the major suppliers of hatchery-produced Nile tilapia
fingerlings. These public centres produce about 1 million Nile tilapia fry and 20,000 African
catfish fry per year. Foumban Research Station has tried to produce all-male Nile tilapia.
However, they all are suffering from the shortages of funds and poor management.
As a new test, the African Development Bank funded another station which was managed by a
group of selected farmer leaders. In addition, Common Initiative Groups (CIGs) have been
promoted, and a number of private hatcheries have evolved. More than 15 hatcheries have since
emerged using technical support received through partnership research arrangements with
IRAD, WorldFish, FAO and CIRAD, producing about 0.8 million fingerlings of African catfish,
African bonytongue and common carp in 2006 (Brummett, 2007). All CIG leaders are actually
private hatchery operators who initially produced fingerlings only to stock their own ponds but
then later started to sell to 3rd parties. Their land area varies from 2,000 - 6,000 m², including a
small indoor hatchery with a capacity of less than 50m3. All hatchery operators own their land
and also grow crops and vegetables. Most of them have received financial and technical
supports from an NGO, FAO, WorldFish or others. Private-sector hatchery production is still far
below demand. Price is high. Therefore, nearly all small-scale fish farmers still use tilapia
fingerlings collected from grow-out ponds and fingerlings of other species are mostly from the
wild. One of the reasons for this may be due to an information gap between farmers and the
suppliers.
In addition to the quantity, the quality of seed is also poor in terms of growth and survival which
discourages farmers from buying seed from hatcheries. There is no control of seed prices. Due
to demand from very rich, politically influential customers the prices are sometimes increased.
Interestingly Pouomogne and Pemsl (2008) also reported that when aquaculture expanded,
farmers from the highlands in search of catfish juveniles emerged as traders / suppliers of
Clarias gariepinus fingerlings of homogenous size to fish farmers (Table 9). They carry out
sorting of species and sizes, handle the fish with greater care, stock and nurse them and practice
better marketing.
42
Table 9 Collection of catfish juveniles from the wild (Dec 200 5 - Mar 2006)
Fingerling
Collector
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Total
Clarias jaensis
Number of
Income (FCFA*)
juveniles
27,000
1,350,000
10,500
262,500
6,000
600,000
600
15,000
3,150
236,250
12,000
600,000
700
17,500
59,950
3,081,250
Clarias gariepinus
Number of
Income
juveniles
(FCFA*)
3,000
300,000
4,500
675,000
4,000
6,000,000
400
20,000
1,350
202,500
8,000
800,000
500
25,000
21,750
2,622,500
Total value of
fingerling sold
(FCFA*)
1,650,000
937,500
1,200,000
35,000
438,750
1,400,000
42,500
5,703,750
Source: Data from seven fingerling collections in the Nkam Valley cited in Pouomogne 2007.
*$1 = FCFA530
According to Serge Ciewe, an aquaculture consultant based in Yaounde, Cameroon (personal
communication), present aquaculture production in Cameroon is around 1,000 tons. Total fish
production is 155,000 tons; the country needs 250,000 tons more so imported 150,000 tons of
fish in 2010. There are five state hatcheries currently operational belonging to the Ministry of
Livestock and Fisheries of 32 initially constructed, with a production varying between 200,000
and 1,000,000 fingerlings of Clarias and tilapia, depending on the year. There are about 15
private hatcheries with a production capacity up to 1.5 million fingerlings (2-10 grams) of
Clarias and 40 thousand fingerlings of tilapia per annum. The price of Clarias fingerlings varies
between 0.3 to 0.5 US dollar depending on the distance between the supplier hatchery and the
customer farm. Tilapia fingerlings are sold between 0.05 to 0.1 US dollar/individual. Tilapia
fingerlings are mainly collected from the grow-out ponds to re-stock farmer owned ponds or
sold to others. About 200,000 fingerlings of Clarias and Jaensis are also caught from the
surrounding rivers and sold by the fishermen or caught by the farmers themselves. This
provides good income for the people living along the rivers. Stocking is done at the ratio of 3
tilapias: 2 catfish fingerlings per square meter of pond space.
4.2
Egypt
Egypt has the largest aquaculture industry amongst African countries, accounting for about
80% of farmed fish, producing over 650,000 tons of finfish (FAO, 2010). Egyptian fish farms
produced about 60% of the country's total freshwater and marine fish production, providing a
cheap protein for its 80 million people (McGrath, 2009).
Egypt serves as an example for the expansion of tilapia aquaculture. It is only in the last 10 years
that production of Nile tilapia has increased exponentially (Fig 7). Total production in 2008
increased by 12 times compared to 1997. Such a big leap was possible mainly due to the success
of mass-scale fry production techniques applying hormonal sex-reversal (Radwan, 2008). Some
farms produce their own fry but the majority of seed comes from specialized private hatcheries.
Some government hatcheries produce fry amounting to around 10% of the total production
capacity. Total fry production has been estimated well over 1 billion fingerlings per year, based
on the aquaculture production (Brummett, 2007). Most hatcheries sell small fry of less than 1 g
43
which means growers raise fry in nurseries before they stock into ponds or cages. Over 200
million carp seeds (Aristichthys nobilis, Ctenopharyngodon idella, Cyprinus carpio,
Hypophthalmichthys molitrix, and Mylopharyngodon piceus) are also produced almost
exclusively by government hatcheries, especially for stocking in rice-fields and also in irrigation
canals with the purpose of controlling snails, macrophytes and algal blooms.
450,000
400,000
350,000
300,000
250,000
200,000
150,000
100,000
50,000
0
y = 12681e0.1952x
R² = 0.9232
Figure 7 Tilapia production boom in Egypt
4.3
Ghana
Until 2003, almost all Ghanaian catfish farmers relied heavily on fingerlings collected from the
wild (Ponzoni and Nguyen, 2008). Since that time, a few small to medium size catfish hatcheries
have become operational and farmers are now more dependent on hatchery produced seed.
Catfish broodstock for hatcheries are collected from various streams and rivers and are bred
using a prepared suspension of pituitary gland which is injecting into berried females from 10
to 15 hours prior to stripping. Fertilized eggs are spread onto mosquito nets and incubated in
concrete tanks with a flow-through water system for from 18 to 30 hours. Larvae are fed
exclusively on either Artemia nauplii or Moina for 4 days; thereafter supplemented with
formulated diet (CP 40% crude protein) for another 4 days. Twelve days after hatching, the fry
are exclusively fed on formulated diets (locally prepared by farmers, or produced
commercially). Fry are transferred to shaded outdoor concrete tanks or earthen ponds for
nursing. Prior to their transfer, green water is developed using chicken manure. Fry are graded
weekly to reduce cannibalism. Survival rate of fry during the first two weeks ranges from 4060% and 20-30% thereafter during another 8 weeks. According to Naga Murali (Triton
Aquaculture Africa Ltd., Personal communication) the Water Research Institute and Mr
Blackie’s hatchery produce catfish fry - a 3 g juvenile costs US$0.2. Catfish are grown in either
ponds or tanks at densities of 5-8 fish/m2 and 150-180 fish/m2 respectively whereas tilapias are
stocked at 80-150 fingerlings per m3 of water in cages and 2-3 fish per m2 of pond space. The
price of fry ranges from US$0.053 (1 g size) fry to US$0.10 (5 g size) per fingerling.
44
There are at least 12 tilapia farms producing either seed and table fish, or both, according to
Naga Murali (Triton Aquaculture Africa Ltd., Personal communication) and at least 5-6
hatcheries selling fry or fingerlings in Ghana. These are Tropo Farms, Crystal Lake, Fish Rite,
Water Research Institute and Mr Blackie’s hatchery. Two hatcheries, Tropo Farms and Crystal
Lake, produce over 80% of the total tilapia seed (Table 10 and 11). Their individual farm
capacities of producing annually over 8 and 6 million fry respectively may serve as models of
Asian type tilapia hatcheries which have exploded recently in Thailand, Bangladesh and many
other countries (Abban et al., 2009).
Table 10 Tilapia hatcheries in Ghana
Hatchery/Farm
Location
2005
Per cent
(%)
2006
Per cent
(%)
2007
Per cent
(%)
3,500,000
51.7
6,000,000
48.7
6,000,000
36.7
3,000,000
44.3
4,000,000
32.5
8,000,000
48.9
1.5
76,450
0.5
Yawat
Dodi Asante Krom,
Volta
Asutuare, Eastern
Region
Tarwas,Western
Region
Kumasi, Ashanti
Gyanfosu Farms
Eastern Region
26,090
0.2
Afife
Afife, Volta Region
Kumah Farms
Domeabra-Kumasi,
Ashanti
Private Hatcheries
Crystal Lake
Tropo Farms
Kpemli Farms
-
-
182,000
-
-
3,650
-
15,000
-
0.2
210,000
1.7
210,000
1.3
5,000,000
4.1
105,150
0.6
10,895,650
88
14,417,690
88.2
1,200,000
9.7
15,000,000
91.8
220,200
1.8
400
0.0
26,090
0.2
1,926,090
11.8
-
6,615,000
Sub-total
-
96.3
Government owned Institutions
ARDEC, WRI
Ashaiman Hatchery
PAC
Akosombo, Eastern
region
Ashiman-Accra,
greater Accra
Kona OdumasiKumasi, Ashati
Sub-total
-
198,350
2.9
52,920
0.8
251,270
3.7
-
1,420,200
12
Source: Abban et. al., (2009)
The followings are the names and some production details:
1. Tropo Farms - Produces 6,000-7,000 tons in a year (Owner: Mark Amechi who was
graduated from AIT, Thailand) – The farm has its own hatchery and distribution channel.
It is located on Volta River at Akuse (Hatchery) and also on Main Lake of Volta (Cage
farming). Annual turnover is approx. US$24 million.
2. West Africa Fish Ltd - Produces 3,000 tons in a year - Owned by a Danish and Ghanaian
Partnership. Have a grant of 2 Mil EURO from DANIDA.
3. Sun Woo Farms - Produces 500-600 tons in a year - Owned by a Korean Mr Sun Woo Started his distribution point in Tema recently. He has his own hatchery.
4. Lee Farms - Owned by Mr Lee, a Taiwanese national which produces 300-500 tons/year
and owns a hatchery.
5. Vision 2000 Farms - Owned by a Ghanaian- Produces 300 tons per year.
6. Crystal Lake - Has a production capacity of 400 tons/year. Not producing much now but
sells fingerlings only.
45
7.
Triton Aquaculture Africa Ltd - Owned by an Indian Company Triton Group - Have license
for producing 6,000 tons- currently producing 150-200 tons per year. They will upscale
to 1,000 tons production capacity by March 2012. Have own hatchery and seed
distribution channel.
8. Reeba Farms - owned by a Ghanaian - Upcoming farm intending to produce 500600 tons/yr.
9. Maleka Farms- Owned by a Lebanese - produces 300-500 tons/year.
10. Asuagyaman district Assembly Farmers (100 members) - produce 1,500-2,000 tons total.
11. Dekpor Farms - Located in Volta region.
12. Kumah Farms- Located in Kumasi.
Table 11 Catfish fingerling producers in Ghana
Hatchery/Far m
Private Hatcheries
Kpemli Farms
Yawat
Gyanfosu Farms
Kumah Farms
Location
Tarkwa, Western
Region
Kumasi, Ashanti,
Region
Eastern Regions
Domeabra-Kuasi,
Ashanti Region
Sub-total
Government owned institutions
DOF, Kumasi
Kumasi, Ashanti
Hatchery
Region
DOF, Ashaiman
Ashiman-Accra,
Hatchery
Greater Accra Region
PAC
Kona OdumasiKumasi, Ashati
Region
Sub-total
Total
2005
% of total
produced
2006
% of total
produced
2007
% of
total
producti
on
65,000
50.6
20,000
14.3
62,000
48.2
0.0
68,000
86.5
1,500,000
0.0
1.2
70,053
48.313
50.0
34.5
68000
86.5
128500
100.0
138,366
98.8
5,030
6.4
0
0.0
0
0.0
2000
2.5
0
0.0
3,600
4.6
0
0.0
1,740
1.2
10,630
78,630
13.5
0
128,500
0.0
100.0
1,740
140,106
1.2
100.0
0.0
46
4.4
Kenya
Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and the African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) are the main
aquaculture species in Kenya. Tilapia accounts for about 90% of farmed fish. African catfish is
normally stocked in Nile tilapia ponds to control the recruits. During the 1930s – 1940s, exotic
species, such as common carp (Cyprinus carpio), rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and
largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) were introduced and they have since been cultured.
The rainbow trout was introduced during 1945 mainly for sport fishing, and has now become
quite an important species for culture especially in the high hills where it fetches high prices
ranging from US$ 4 -16 depending on the market and the season.
The shortage of tilapia seed has been very critical in Kenya, especially when the government
announced support to the community for the digging of 28,000 ponds (Hino, 2011). There were
56 operating hatcheries across the country producing tilapia, catfish and common carp, with a
total production capacity of over 50 million tilapia fry and 75 million catfish fry/year. That was
thought to be sufficient to supply to all the ponds. Due to government support and emphasis
almost the same number of ponds have been constructed by the farmers themselves. Therefore,
a report has estimated that annual demand for fingerlings exponentially increased, reaching
over 100 million fingerlings for tilapia alone in 2011. This demand may double in 2012 as more
farmers are likely to start fish farming under a second phase of the stimulus programme. There
are about 100 fingerling producers in the country; however, all of them are small-scale
producers. Large hatcheries are desperately needed to support the government plan. Otherwise,
thousands of ponds will remain empty. At the same time, the quality of currently available seed
is questionable as broodstock used by the hatcheries are of poor quality and there is no
mechanism to regulate or certify the hatcheries based on recognised standards.
Although some individuals have been trained through previous projects, the capacity and skill
levels of staff are weak with respect to the running and management of hatcheries as
businesses. Appropriate on-the-job training is needed. Additionally, poor road conditions and
poor management during transportation causes high mortalities. The seed supply system has to
be developed to support aquaculture development.
4.5
Malawi
A rough estimate shows that about 40% of fish farmers rely on fingerlings supplied by the
Department of Fisheries (DoF). However, DoF can rarely meet the demand in terms of quantity
or quality. Almost all of the small-scale hatcheries are run by farmers and they are spread all
over the country, accessibility is poor and the prices of fingerling are quite high.
In Malawi, according to : (Austin Mtethiwa, personal communication). there are about 60 tilapia
and 10 catfish hatcheries . He estimates annual tilapia fry production to be about 30 million per
year and catfish fry is less than 1.5 million for the whole country, which the author finds hard to
substantiate . Malawi does not have proper documentation of fish seed production, specifically
because all hatcheries are not certified and a certification process has not been yet started. Most
appear to be small and basic. The price of Tilapia ranges from US$0.063 to 0.20 whereas catfish
47
fry prices ranges between US$0.13 and 0.20. Fish farming is mostly in ponds and the average
stocking rate is 3 fish/m2 for both. Aquaculture production levels from small-holder farmers
are about 1,300 tonnes, with 93% Tilapia, 5% catfish, and 2% exotic species.
The hatcheries, including those operated by DoF, have poor physical infrastructure and lack
technical expertise. During the period of 2003 – 2005 the demand for O. karongae fingerlings
increased dramatically (Mwale, 2009). Due to limited production, the price of O. karongae
fingerlings doubled (more than MK 10 per fingerling). It is very clear that fish seed demand is
high but supply is considerably lower, leading to a high price for fingerlings. Therefore,
availability of fish seed is an obstacle for small-holder fish farmers. In addition, as there is no
supply network established, most farmers have to source fingerlings by themselves. Regarding
the quality of fish seed produced, a complaint “Our fish do not grow” is common among the
farmers. All-male tilapia fry production is not widely carried out to date. Research institutions
and colleges have tried some research but with little success.
Recently, a hatchery has been established at the National Aquaculture Centre under the Ministry
of Agriculture and Food Security, Domasi, Malawi, with technical assistance from Thailand (Fig
8), which produces about 0.6 million sex reversed fry of Oreochromis karongae and Oreochromis
shiranus, indigenous species of tilapia, per month.
Figure 8 A newly established hatchery in Malawi with the assistance from Thailand (From Angus McNiven)
48
One of the farms,, ‘Hangere Farm’, managed by Mrs Liness Chavula (Kamgtambe, et al., 2009),
has shown the potential of nursing Clarias gariepinus. The farm managed to grow catfish larvae
to juveniles with a remarkably 68% survival rate, which has not been achieved in Malawi so far.
The farm buys catfish fry from other farms, raises them in a nursery and then sells to grow-out
farmers. According to Chavula (personal communication), it has been more attractive in terms
of quick profit or turnover. This should be highlighted so that more farmers can also follow to
serve as a linkage between the hatcheries and grow-out farmers.
4.6
Nigeria
Nigeria has been the leader of aquaculture development among West African countries and only
second to Egypt in Africa as a whole. Nigeria is well-known for African catfish farming, and the
catfish farming industry is booming (Fig 9). Due to Nigeria’s population boom, wild fish might
have vanished quite early and people might have tried and practiced aquaculture as an
alternative. According to Ponzoni and Nguyen (2008), there are several federal and state-owned
hatcheries; however, they are not producing enough seed. As a result, many private hatcheries
emerged due to high demand for seed. Small-scale operators dominate the industry. Brummett
(2007) reported that at least 500 fish farms produce seed for themselves or sell to others;
however, the majority of them are small to medium size and large commercial farms are few.
Hatchery seed is playing a key role in the booming fish farming industry in Nigeria.
Data show that fingerling production increased ten-fold in a five year period from 3million/year in 2000 to an estimated 30 million in 2005. About 80% of the total seed is
produced by private hatcheries. A typical small-scale hatchery produces between 60,000 to
200,000 fingerlings annually, using mainly Ovaprim hormone during May-September. However,
the annual production of the five largest hatcheries is in the range of 3-4 million fingerlings.
They apply induced spawning methods in an intensive re-circulating system. The price of a 2-3
cm fingerlings is $0.11, while those of 4-6 cm cost $0.23 each.
2008
2006
2004
2002
2000
1998
1996
1994
1992
1990
140,000
120,000
100,000
80,000
60,000
40,000
20,000
-
Figure 9 Aquaculture production in Nigeria (FAO, 2010)
49
The small-scale producers are driven mainly by profits. They collect brood stock either from the
wild or use siblings of the previous year’s production which increases the chances of inbreeding
and introgression. Therefore, quality of seed sometimes is compromised which has discouraged
many grow-out farmers or made them go into seed production with little or no knowledge of
genetics and fish breeding. Probably, due to increased competition, things have changed
recently according to Miller and Leschen (2011). Many fish farmers are moving from wild to
hatchery produced fingerlings which are now of high quality and fast growing, and offered by
well-known fish hatcheries. These hatcheries typically produce around 0.5 million fingerlings
per month. They have quality brood stocks of Clarias such as the Dutch and Scottish varieties,
which exhibit high survival, rapid growth and low feed conversion ratios. However, most of the
hatcheries are producing using less efficient traditional methods which are supplying below
10% of their capacities anticipated during their establishment (Brummett, 2007). The
underlying reasons are a lack of suitable broodstock, skilled manpower, good water, electricity,
and live food for fry, and a difficulty in obtaining natural hormones and synthetic hormone,
which are expensive. There is a need to build more private hatcheries to fulfil existing demand
or upgrade the existing government hatcheries depending upon the local contexts.
4.7
Tanzania
According to Murray (2008), there are a few small-scale hatcheries in Tanzania belonging to
government (e.g. TAFIRI, Fisheries Training Inst) or NGO establishments. Five hatcheries are
producing tilapia for different regions: Nyegezi (Mwanza), Arusha, Kingolowira (Morogorro),
Mbalali (Mbeya) and Ruvuma (an NGO hatchery). These produce three tilapia species (O.
niloticus, T. zilli and T. variablis) and African catfish (Clarias gariapenis). The centres mainly
serve as demonstration sites, rather than functioning commercially.
Regional governments in East Africa, including Tanzania, are reluctant to introduce Nile tilapia
(Oreochromis niloticus) for fears of escapees diluting or polluting the wild gene pool. Those who
want to introduce have to consult with DoF officers but each case would have to be individually
judged on its risk and merit. Some European RAS start-ups rely on regular imports of sexreversed fry. An on-site hatchery is required to ensure a supply of fry to them. Therefore,
WorldFish Center and USAID (Uganda) are exploring the possibility of developing improved
strains. The Asian method of tilapia hatchery technology would be so useful over the traditional
batch method often practiced in Africa. All male production by hormone use via fry feed would
bring further major production efficiencies. Fisheries policy advocates manual sexing, but again
the door appears to be open for the use of methyl-testosterone. There is a huge demand for
tilapia and catfish fry for use as live-bait for Nile perch fishing in Victoria Lake. Uganda is taking
advantage of that. Establishing large commercial hatcheries could benefit from this and support
development of aquaculture at the same time.
50
4.8
Uganda
According to FAO, Uganda produces about 17,000 tonnes of fish (Fig 10) from aquaculture,
which is second to Nigeria among sub-Saharan African states. Production comes from smallscale farms, commercial fish farms and from reservoirs and lakes. Tilapia and catfish are the
main species cultured. There are about 20,000 ponds, each with an average surface area of 500
m². Production ranges from 1.5 – 15 tons /ha per year. Recently, 20-30% of smallholder
subsistence ponds have been transformed into profitable small-scale farming operations as a
result of improvement in management. However, since the 1960s, tilapia seed production
methods have changed little. The government of Uganda started some work during the 1960s
towards broodstock development through selection and hybridization of imported O.
mossambicus, but, the program was discontinued. Broodstock are regularly sourced from wild
stock from the lakes such as Victoria, Albert, Kyoga, Edward and George. Almost all of the tilapia
seed is produced in ponds and consists of mixed-sex fry. Most hatcheries collect parent stock
from the wild source. Broodstock of around 300g are stocked in a pond at 1:1 – 1:5 sex ratios
(male: female) and fingerlings are continuously harvested directly for stocking in other farmer’s
ponds from the same spawning pond again and again.
Private tilapia hatchery operators therefore have to raise their own brood stock or obtain it
from other farmers. Their main source of brood stock is often initially from the wild. One of the
private farms, named Source of Nile (SoN) farm’, a private tilapia hatchery established in 2005
by two share-holder companies, Lake Harvest Group and Greenfields Uganda Ltd, breeds Nile
tilapia (O. niloticus) for their own farm as well as to sell to others (Gatward, 2009). They
obtained parents from Lake Victoria, Kyoga, Edward and George in 2006. Since then, they select,
cross and maintain crosses based on the performance of the filial generations. The fish farm
supplies the best quality tilapia fingerlings for farmers in Uganda and has become the major and
most reliable tilapia hatchery. They collect cohorts from the spawning ponds after a few weeks
for on-growing onto fingerlings and do sex-reversal in net hapas, rearing for a month. Normally
nurseries purchase 1g fry from SoN and raise it to 10g or bigger before they sell to farmers for
growing in their ponds. They rear further to 20-30 g if they are for stocking into cages.
Normally, tilapia and catfish seeds are sold directly to grow-out fish farmers. Catfish fry are sold
as baits (+15g) directly to fishermen or sometimes bait dealers. In both the cases, the customers
normally go to the farms. Occasionally hatcheries deliver the fingerlings to grow-out farms at
the request and cost of the customer. Sometimes, baits are sold to Tanzanian fishermen.
Farm gate catfish fry / fingerling prices range from US$ 0.10 to 0.16, and tilapia is around US$
0.05. However, farmers sometimes pay up to US$ 0.52 per fingerling when purchased via a
middleman or from the wild. Costs of fingerlings to the farmer are rather high and typically
farmers spend above 20% of variable costs on fingerlings.
Catfish seed production started in 1999 by the private company named ‘Sun Fish Farm Ltd’,
purchasing the parent stock from the Lake Basin Development Authority, Kenya Marine and
Fisheries Institute Station (www.regional-dev.go.ke/lbda/), Kenya and then the Aquaculture
Research and Development Center at Kajjansi, Uganda, which were originally from the wild
51
stock. Since then catfish hatchery operators obtain their broodstock by buying sub-market and
table size fish back from grow-out farmers.
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
-
Figure 10 Tilapia production boom in Uganda
There are two types of catfish hatchery - pond based and tank based. Smaller hatcheries are
mainly pond-based and found in rural areas, and the larger more sophisticated hatcheries use
tanks to rear the early stages and ponds for on-growing. Generally the females are stripped and
the eggs fertilized and allowed to incubate in basins set where water can flow over them. As
soon as the yolk sac is absorbed the young are transferred into fertilized ponds. Feeding is with
supplemental feeds or commercially formulated diets. The larger hatcheries are close to towns,
because they depend on power supply. Incubation, hatching and early larval rearing until the
air-breathing fry stage is carried out in tanks.
According to Dickson and Macfadyen (2011) the Ugandan capacity for fish seed production has
increased recently mainly due to demand for stocking programs, Nile perch fishing and the
Kenyan Aquaculture Development program. As the Nile perch fishery has expanded and
demand for bait is increasing resulting in higher prices for bait, a number of fish farms have
specialised in producing African catfish fingerlings for live-bait. According to New Vision News
(2009), the number of fish fingerling bait hooks used per day in Lake Victoria is 0.95 million in
Uganda, 2.2 million in Kenya and 4.4 million in Tanzania, totalling 7.55 million in total. About
40% use catfish fry as baits which means a fry demand of approximately 3 million fry, out of
which Uganda needs around 0.38 million fry as baits daily. According to Dickson and Macfadyen
(2011), the capacity of the hatcheries in Uganda is only about 3 million, Kenya 1.5 million and
Tanzania has no hatchery so far. There are reports that all three East African countries were
once experiencing a bait deficit of up to 98.36%. The establishment of a large hatchery, like that
of Phesthong Phan Pla (Case Study 3) which produces up to 6 million fry per day, with good
expertise, could benefit enormously. It is clear that the catfish seed production business has a
huge potential and can grow complementarily with catfish farming for human consumption. The
only question is whether or not such fishing should be promoted by making fingerlings easily
available.
52
In addition to live-bait, there is also high demand from aquaculture operations in Kenya. Private
farms such as S.O.N. Fish Farm Ltd, have been selling large quantities of tilapia fingerlings to the
Kenyan government. A second phase of the Aquaculture Stimulus Package is planned after the
performance of the first phase and there is likely to be a major increase in demand from Kenya.
As fingerlings produced in Uganda are mostly sold as Nile perch live-bait and to the Kenyan
programme, they have stimulated the development of key components of the Ugandan
commercial aquaculture industry. For example, hatcheries have developed the capacity to
produce large quantities of tilapia and catfish fingerlings. On the other hand, although
hatcheries have benefited tremendously, it is not good for aquaculture development in Uganda.
As the price increases, fish farmers in Uganda may not be able to afford seed.
In the late 1990s government started encouraging the private sector to play a major role in seed
production. As a result, in 2000 nearly half (41%) of farmers could purchase tilapia fry from
hatcheries (Isyagi, 2007). However, even after the establishment of private hatcheries (Table
12), farmers are still facing problems as they are located far away from established hatcheries
and the Aquaculture Research and Development Center. Farmers still collect seed directly from
the wild or get a few brood stock from others and stock them in their ponds to reproduce. There
is a need for the hatcheries to stretch out to distant rural areas and create chains to develop.
However, for traders / middlemen to be an economically viable business chain, farmers have to
be organised in groups. Fortunately, the seed production business has been extremely profitable
and several private fish seed hatcheries are emerging. Hopefully that will stimulate more
farmers to enter into fish farming and the seed supply chain will be further developed.
Table 12 List of fish hatcheries in Uganda
Tilapia Hatcheries
Name and Location
Mpigi Fish Farmd (Mpigi)
Sun Fish Farmc (Iganga)
MUSO4 Fish Farmc
Kiezi Mixed Farmc (Bushenyi)
Interglobe Services Ltd. (Kampala)
SoNa (Jinja)
Umoja Fish Farmd (Wakiso)
Kigezi Fish farm
Action for Communtiy Development StrategiesUganda (ACODS) (Apac)
b Largest
catfish hatchery
These hatcheries producing mix sex-tilapia
fry
d Hatcheries nursing mono-sex tilapia from
SoN
a Largest tilapia male tilapia
c
Established
Year
1995
1997
2003
2005
2001
2006
2005
2005
2005
Catfish Hatcheries
Name and Location
Established
Year
Sun Fish Farmb
1997
InterFish (Wakiso)
2007
Umoja Fish Farm (Wakiso)
2005
Aquafarm Consults (Wakiso)
1998
Kabeihura Fish FArm
2007
(Bushenyi)
Touchi Heights (Gulu)
2006
Mpigi Fish Farm (Mpigi)
1995
MUSO4 Fish Farm (Iganga)
2003
Kigezi Mixed Fish Farm
2005
(Bushenyi)
Interglobe Services Ltd
2001
Action for Communtiy
2005
Development Strategies-Uganda
(ACODS) (Apac)
Fish farmers in Uganda have formed several fish farmers’ groups and cooperatives. Walimi Fish
Cooperative Society (WAFICOS) in central Uganda, Iganga Zonal Fish Farmers (IZFF) in Eastern
Uganda and Kabeihura Fish Farmers (KFF) in Western Uganda are the examples (Isyagi et al.
2009). The WAFICOS has been effective in lobbying for both public and private interventions for
the benefits of member fish farmers on various issues including marketing, training and others.
53
The group should be encouraged effectively to produce fish seed and also to serve as seed
supply network to the different farmers.
4.9
Zambia
A rapidly depleting natural stock resulted in a decline of fish consumption from 11.4 kg in 1970
to 6.4 kg in 2003 (Musumali et al., 2009). In recent years, fish farming has been promoted by the
government and various other agencies including FAO, although aquaculture production has not
taken off as expected. According to government figures there were 6,000 farmers and about
13,000 fish ponds in 2003 (Musumali et al., 2009). According to FAO data for 2009, annual
aquaculture production is about 8,500 tonnes which comes to an annual seed demand of about
15 million (Bhujel, 2011a). High quality seed supply is required to support and trigger the
anticipated growth of aquaculture. According to Geloo (2009), approximately 80,000 and
85,000 tonnes of fish were produced in 2007, whereas a total annual fish demand is 120,000
tonnes. This shows a shortage of at least 40,000 tonnes of fish per year. The Government is
planning to promote aquaculture aggressively to fulfill this gap. If aquaculture is to expand to
meet the expected demand, a crude estimation shows that fry or fingerlings production has to
be increased at least by two times i.e. to 30 million. The existing 3-4 large commercial
hatcheries would be needed to be upgraded to meet such high demand.
Two species of tilapia (O. niloticus and O. andersonii) available in Zambia are the species of
choice which have the potential to meet this shortage through aquaculture. The first priority has
been given to the 3-spotted tilapia (Oreochromis andersonii) as it is indigenous to the country.
One of the farms is trying to specialize on this species and plans to maintain original broodstock,
produce brood fry and supply juveniles (Kalimba Farm i.e. Case Study 4, Fig 11). At the same
time, Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) attracted the attention of the commercial farmers
because of its faster growth and popularity in Asia and many other countries. It has already
been imported into Zambia by some farmers. One hatchery, Rivendell Farms i.e. Case Study 6
(Fig 12), has shown interest in changing the species from O. andersonii to O. niloticus. Two other
hatcheries have started producing fry (e.g. Case Study 7, Fig 13), although their fry quality has
been questioned.
Short to medium-term plans for fry production have to be developed based on the current
shortfall of fish. However, only 50% of the seed is produced in the country. A farm called
Savanna Farm (Case Study 7), located at Ngege Ngege, alone produces about 15 million fry of
Nile tilapia and has the capacity to increase production. Another hatchery, called Aqua Farms
(Case Study 8, Fig 14), has already started, realizing the demand for quality fry within the
country and beyond, and also for their own use.
It is likely that Zambian tilapia hatcheries can play a major role in supplying quality tilapia fry to
the region especially DR Congo, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda which may contribute to the
further development of aquaculture.
54
Case Study 5 Kalimba Farm, Zambia
Kalimba Farm, Zambia (Fig 11) is 20 km east from Lusaka managed by Mrs Cayron Thomas, native of Belgium with 25
yrs of experience in Zambia. Total land area is about 7 ha; production is 20 ton of fish per year. Land is on lease from
the government for 99 yrs. Production comes only from 5 ha. It is fully dedicated to indigenous species of tilapia
especially found in Zambia i.e. Oreochromis andersonii because the manager thinks it is one of most important and
preferred native tilapia in Zambia, it performs better in cold weather as water temperature in Zambia often drops to
15–16°C. Originally 170 fish were collected from various natural water bodies and produced about 1,000 progenies
as the broodstock. It has been advised to carry out more breeding trials, progeny testing and genetic
characterizations / molecular markers so that the farm can be developed as the main centre (National Broodstock
Center – 2) for this species so that it can serve as the main O. andersonii broodstock supplier to other hatchery
operators. Similarly, other farms should be established in other countries where other indigenous species are found.
Figure 11 Harvesting O. andersonii broods and sampling for DNA analysis
55
Case Study 6 Rivendell Farm, Zambia
Rivendell Farm, Zambia (Fig 12) is owned and managed by an American foreigner family located in Mkera,
Copperbelt or near Ndola, Zambia. The hatchery is currently producing about 200,000 – 300,000 fry/month which
could be upgraded to produce up to 2-3 million fry per month with a proper training of one month or technical
assistance to its staff. The farm manager did not have proper training and was facing the problem of low output from
the incubation system i.e. from eggs to swim-up fry in the hatchery. During a brief visit, a number of suggestions were
given; however, there was no follow-up.
Figure 12 Testing a new plastic jar and tray at Rivendell Hatchery, Zambia
Case Study 7 Savanna Stream, Zambia
Savanna Stream (Fig 13) is located in Zambia uses GIFT and Chitralada fish imported from Thailand; the first lot
imported 10,000 and second lot 80,000. The farm has about 100,000 working broodstock. Large size nylon hapas
(24m x 5m) also imported from Thailand at about US$250/piece are used for broodfish management. Fry are sexreversed fed with methyl-testosterone hormone mixed with fish meal in 3m x 1.8 m = 5.4 m2 hapas. The farm uses
300 females and 100 males per breeding hapa. The size of the broodfish ranges from 150-350 g which are fed with
32% CP floating pellets. Eggs are harvested every 2 weeks. The dose of hormone is 44mg/kg of feed (normally in
Thailand 60mg/kg for better result). The farm has the capacity of producing over 1 million per month. Sex-reversed
fry are packed in plastic bags at US$20-30/1,000 fry. Water for the incubation system is pumped in from the Kafue
River which is not very clean. The farm was planning to have a settling tank so that suspended particles could be
settled before it is pumped into to header tank and then to a sand filtration system.
Figure 13 A hatchery with broodstock hapas, Savanna Stream, Zambia
56
Case Study 8 Aqua Farms, Zambia
Aqua Farms of Zambia is a tilapia hatchery and grow-out farm (Fig 14) located at the bank of Kafue River in Zambia,
60 km south of Lusaka. The farm had only grow-out culture but when they face the problem of quality fry, they
decided to start the hatchery by themselves with the help of technical assistance from AIT. The purpose is to produce
quality fry for the farm itself as well as to supply to others in Zambia and other countries of Africa. Chitralada strain of
Nile tilapia brood fry were imported together with fish; the first lot imported 3,000 brood fry. The farm has about 100
ha land. Nylon hapas (size 12m x 5m) are used for broodstock and were imported from Thailand. The farm uses in an
average 200 females and almost the same number of males per breeding hapa. The size of the broodfish ranges from
100-200 g, which are fed with 32% CP floating pellets. Eggs are harvested every week. Fry are sex-reversed fed with
methyl-testosterone hormone mixed with fish meal dissolving in ethanol. Sex-reversal hapas are 3m x 2 m = 6 m2 in
size. The dose of hormone is 60mg/kg of feed. The farm plans to produce initially approx. 0.5 million per month and
increase gradually to 1 million and or more later on. Sex-reversed fry are packed in plastic bags at US$50/1,000 fry.
Water for the incubation system is pumped in from the Kafue River which is not very clean; therefore, a sand filter
has been built.
Figure 14 Tilapia egg harvest, incubation and final fish harvest in Zambia
4.10 Zimbabwe
Aquaculture was first introduced in early the 1950s in Zimbabwe through the stocking of farm
dams and as commercial trout farming in the Eastern Highlands. Approximately 70% of farmers
are now farming tilapia, increasingly Oreochromis niloticus. However, the requirement to obtain
permits to import this exotic species has been considered a constraint by some producers. Fish
farms are mostly small and use manure as the main nutrient input. The number of farmers using
commercial fish feeds is increasing. Most farmers produce their own seed while some, mainly
trout farmers, depended on National Parks for fingerlings. Trout is the second most important
culture species, while catfish and carp are farmed to a lesser degree.
In addition to food fish production, a popular reason for growing fish is for farm worker’s food
and for fishing sports. The recent upsurge in interest in tilapia fillets on the American and
European markets has inspired considerable commercial interest in growing the fish, exploiting
the warmer climatic conditions and relatively cheaper resource and labour base.
Lake Harvest Aquaculture (Pvt) Ltd has been the iconic farm for aquaculture in Zimbabwe and
even for the whole of Africa. It has been considered the most successful large scale commercial
57
aquaculture venture. According to Pasipamire (2009), it was first developed into a tilapia farm
in 1996 from a freshwater prawn business owned by Cairns Foods Ltd. The tilapia farm was
started in 1997. In a ten year period it has grown to a 3000-tonne fish farm. Tilapias produced
are primarily for export to European and regional markets. The farm carries out breeding,
feeding, harvesting, processing and marketing.
Lake Harvest was initiated with capital of US $10m funded by the Commonwealth Development
Corporation (CDC, http://www.cdcgroup.com/) and Comafin, a pan-African private equity fund
(http://www.comafin.biz/). Six sites were installed, each costing around US $350,000, including
boats. The processing factory alone cost around US $4,000,000. According to Production
Manager Dr Damnien Deprez (personal communication, email: [email protected] ), Lake
Harvest now produces about 6,000 tonnes annually and has a plan to double it, and then
increase production to 20,000 tonnes or higher in the near future.
The farm is a cage culture operation in Lake Kariba, which is on the border between Zambia and
Zimbabwe. It produces fish seed itself in earthen ponds. The farm requires about 30 million fry
per year and uses 8,000 broodstock (200-600g size, 1male: 2 female) with the same number
under development to replace them. As winter temperature falls below 22°C, fry production has
to be carried out during the summer (September and April) where fry production ranges from
4-5 million per month. Small fry (0.012 g) are harvested from broodstock ponds and transferred
to nursery section. Fry are fed with a fine powdered feed containing high levels of crude protein
eight times-a-day. When they reach 0.3 g, they are harvested, counted and stocked into hapas or
ponds. They are harvested at 5 g after 8 to 9 weeks, ready to be stocked in the cages in the lake.
It may take up to three months from fingerlings of 5g size. While in the ponds, fish are on-grown
in fingerling ponds measuring up to 4,000 m3 and at a stocking density of about 1 kg/m3 (or
100 to 120 fish per m3) at harvest. As fry are not sex-reversed, stocking in cages with mix-sex
tilapia results in the expenditure of energy for reproduction. The resulting eggs and fry fall
through the cage bottom. There are two drawbacks. Firstly, energy is lost; secondly, fry are
allowed to escape into the lake / reservoirs. If the farm uses sex-reversal technology, it could be
a lot more profitable rather than just mix-sex. This shows the need of such hatchery technology
in Zimbabwe.
4.11 Summary status
Access to quality seed has been a major bottleneck to the development of commercial
aquaculture in Africa. Making high quality fry available throughout the year accelerates the
development of the industry. Almost all African countries are suffering from seed quality and
quantity problems. Because of inadequate production, most African farmers are compelled to
purchase at higher prices.
Fish seed production and supply network in Africa can be represented by a model (Fig 15). A
considerable amount of wild seed is harvested for use by the aquaculture industry. At same
time, a large proportion of fry and fingerlings are sold to fishermen to be used as bait, especially
for fishing in Victoria Lake. Some success stories of aquaculture programs can be found in
Africa. Most of them produce seed by themselves. For example, Royal Fish Farm in Benin, Tropo
Farm in Ghana, Kafue Fisheries, Aqua Farms in Zambia and Lake Harvest in Zimbabwe.
However, almost all other hatchery producers are small in scale. Seed supply networks or
supply systems in general are either non-existence or very weak. Specialized hatcheries and
nursery facilities are almost non-existent or very limited and need to be strengthened. A
58
summary of seed production and supply in selected African countries where aquaculture has
been recently emphasized is given in Table 13 & 14. Demand for fish seed and supply is rapidly
increasing because aquaculture has been adopted very rapidly as a result of strong support
from the government and international organizations.
Wild seed
Hatchery seed
Government
Private
(Extension offices or
research institutions,
colleges, universities
(Farmers,
Cooperative or
companies)
Baits
Fry for grow-out
Fishermen
Traders or
middlemen
Nursing farmers
Grow-out farmers
Figure 15 General model of fish seed production and supply in Africa
Table 13 Summary of seed demand in major African countries adapted from FAO (2007) incorporating recent
information from various sources given in Section 4 of this study
Countries
Cameroon
Existing seed supply (million per year)
Tilapia
Catfish
Others
3
1
Egypt
1,200
-
Ghana
16
Kenya
50
Malawi
Nigeria
Estimated seed demand (million per year)
Tilapia
Catfish
Others
6
2
10,000
-
0.2
32
0.5
75
100
150
30
2
60
3
-
30
-
500
Uganda
8
139
450
277
Zambia
15
-
30
-
Zimbabwe
19
6
38
11
1,341
Sub-total
Total
Seed shortages (million / year)
76
1,668.2
10,138
152
10,590.5
250
250
300
300
8,923
59
Table 14 Summary of seed resources in Africa (modified from FAO, 2007)
Cameroon
Egypt
Ghana
Nigeria
Uganda
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Main Culture
Systems
Small semiintensive
ponds
Large semiintensive ponds:
Some cages in
the Nile
Small, semiintensive
ponds; some
new raceway
systems in SW
Small, semiintensive
ponds;
Extensive
small dams;
Planned L.
Victoria
Semiintensive,
mostly
pond
culture
Main Culture
Species
Clarias sp,
tilapia
Tilapia, mullets
Intensive
cages in
Volta lake;
intensive
pond
systems,
small semiintensive
ponds
Tilapia
Clarias
heterobranchus
Clarias sp.
Other
Species
Heterotis
niloticus
carps
Tilapia
Ornamentals
Nile tilapia
Main Source
of
Fingerlings
Hatcheries for
catfish, ponds
residuals for
tilapia
Private
hatcheries
Wild fishery,
small and
medium-scale
hatcheries
Private
hatcheries
Private
hatcheries
Number of
Hatcheries
12 (4 private,
8 government
480 private, 10
Govt
Clarias,
heterobran
chus
Wild
fishery or
pond
residuals
for tilapia
4 large
private, 5
government
Nile tilapia
and 3spotted
tilapia
-
Intensive
cages in
Lake
Kariba;
Semiintensive
small water
bodies for
trout
Tilapia
8 govt.
(10%), 45
private
(90%)
2 Govt and
6 Private
hatcheries
Main
Hatchery
Systems
Small open
ponds
Hapas in ponds
for tilapia,
indoor tanks for
carps,
increasing use
of greenhouses
for early tilapia
spawning
Small open
ponds or
tanks
Small ponds
or indoor
tanks, semiintensive
Modern
tank and
hapa-inpond
Main
Problem
Irregular
demand not
coordinated
with irregular
supply
Inadequate
hatchery
capacity
and poor
manageme
nt
Poor
genetic
quality of
broodstock,
high feed
costs
Growing
steadily from
a smallholder
base
Lack of
knowledge
regarding
economic
performance
of
commercial
systems
Growing,
focus on
medium and
larger-scale
investments
Poor
manageme
nt and lack
of quality
monitoring
Future
Trends
Strong
seasonality;
demand
outstripping
supply;
decreasing size
of fingerlings
delivered
Intensifying to
reduce water
requirements
500 out of
which small
(20%), 200
medium (60%),
20 large (20%)
Small static
ponds/tanks
Medium indoor
flow-through
tanks, small
ponds
Large, indoor
re-circulating
raceways
Inadequate
water supply,
poor training of
technicians,
poor and/or too
few broodstock
Growing to
supply to
neighbouri
ng
countries
unknown
Growing
steadily
from SME
base
Rapid, rather
disorganized
expansion
Trout
Private,
vertically
integrated
grow-out
farms
1 Govt.
(trout), 6
private (3
trout, 3
tilapia)
Modern,
pond based
60
5. Major constraints
5.1 Human resource
Aquaculture has been a low priority among the students at the university level education
system in Africa. Therefore, in general, the aquaculture industry lacks smart human resources.
The majority of graduates have received higher education from developed countries, and so the
knowledge and technologies they acquire might not have been very practical in an African
context. More importantly, those who have good skills or are technically sound are normally
promoted to administrative positions, and so offering little chance of practicing in the real field.
Apparently, those who have academic higher education are more isolated from the real field
situation, and are more paper work oriented rather than the field work orientated.
Among middle level human resources, most employees have a certificate or diploma with
training in general fish farming from the Fisheries Training Institutes, but very little
specialization in hatchery seed production and supply. Even though most people may have
some sort of training in fisheries institutes within Africa; however, they may not acquire
adequate skills and confidence to actually run a fish hatchery profitably due to the lack of field
and laboratory facilities.
Various international and African government agencies have tried to bring external experts;
however, there are always questions about how the consultants are selected and what sorts of
knowledge and skills can be transferred to Africa. There was probably less effort towards
developing in-country human resource development, is consequently not adequate.
5.2 Water resource
One of the main constraints for aquaculture development in Africa is the shortage of water.
Africa is known to be continent of desert so many foreign investors may feel it is risky to invest
in aquaculture where water is scarce. However, there are places where large lakes, reservoirs
and rivers may be utilized. In some lakes, people are engaged in fishing rather than farming e.g.
Lake Victoria. The time has come to gradually convert the fishermen to fish farmers. In the areas
where water is a problem, there are ways to collect water. Rain water harvesting systems may
be a suitable option in which water is collected from the roof of the houses and collect in a small
pond. This has been used in some countries as a climate change mitigation measure.
5.3 Information gap
Either due to lack of information or sometimes an overwhelming promotion of various practices
or technologies, government, NGOs, farmers and others in Africa have difficulty in selecting the
right or appropriate technology. There is so much information on the internet but just by
reading through them, farmers would not be able to select the best one and also hire the best
technical experts whenever needed. In some cases, people with inferior technologies try hard to
61
sell it emphasizing more than necessary using very attractive wordings and banner
advertisements. The level of English language has influenced the information about the
technology. For example, it may be true that the best technologies in aquaculture are in China,
Vietnam or Thailand but they publish very limited literature about their technologies. On the
other hand, the Philippines, India, Bangladesh and some developed countries, present
information very nicely which attracts the attention of users. Even large and well established
farms, such as Lake Harvest in Zimbabwe, seem not to be using a proper sex-reversal protocol
to achieve the highest quality mixed-sex tilapia fry for stocking into cages. Similarly, hatcheries
in Zambia have been employing sex-reversal techniques using hired technicians from the
Philippines. However, the results are very disappointing, especially with respect to fry survival
in the hatcheries and the percentage of males. Nevertheless, there is a room for improvement in
production capacity and quality through technical assistance and hands-on-training.
5.4 Biological factors
5.4.1
Wild seed
Because of the abundance of wild fish in the past, African countries have not considered
aquaculture as an important focus. Similarly, in some areas wild seed are still available;
therefore, hatchery establishment has not been the priority of the government. Therefore, a
message has to go across to the people / fishermen who catch wild seed that wild seed will no
longer be available. More importantly, catching wild seed may actually be more detrimental to
wild fisheries and, therefore, should be gradually banned by making access to hatchery
produced seed as an alternative means.
5.4.2
Used as live-bait and high price
Fish seed, especially catfish fry, have been used as livebait for Nile perch fishing in such places
as Victoria Lake. Many farmers in Kenya, Uganda and other countries actually target fishermen
as their customers because they get higher prices as compared to the prices reached when they
sell to fish farmers. As mentioned above, there is a huge demand for livebait by fishermen.
Hatcheries cannot fulfil the demand. The only way to increase supply is to establish bigger
hatcheries to produce excess numbers, and as a result the price will drop so that farmers can
afford them.
5.4.3
Genetic quality
Most African countries prefer their own indigenous species which typically normally grow at
slower rates. There is very limited research on genetic improvement and farming methods.
Many countries are wasting time in the hope that they will be successful in developing culture
techniques for their own species but there has been very little success. Farmers especially often
want a quick result. For example, Genetically Improved Farmed Tilapia is available and
outperforms most native species. High growth rates are usually necessary in order to achieve
profitability.. Therefore, farmers can’t wait until the techniques for indigenous species are
developed. It has been said that one of the farmers in Zambia refused to stock native species, as
62
planned by the Department of Fisheries (DoF), arguing that he had lost money once already and
that he didn’t want to lose again. He therefore demanded Nile tilapia fry.. For tilapia, especially if
a hatchery uses thousands of broodfish, inbreeding would not be a problem. Therefore,
hatcheries should acquire the best available stock to start with at any cost. That will be a one-off
investment. They can then gradually select progenies to increase the stock.
In case of catfish, however, inbreeding can be a problem if the same broodstock is used again
and again, as the number of broodstock used is usually low. Repeatedly using less than 55
broodstock may result in inbreeding depression. Lack of improved strains adapted to existing
farming environments is also an issue in catfish production in Africa (Ponzoni and Nguyen,
2007). In China, it has been reported that inbreeding has reduced the growth rate of Chinese
carps and caused big revenue losses due to inbreeding. On the other hand, cross-breeding of
some species is happening, such as between silver and bighead carps, which have a similar
appearance, and has eliminated pure stocks resulting in reduced efficiency of silver carp to feed
on phytoplankton and a reduction on growth.
5.4.4
Low fry survival and quality
In Africa, fry quality has been always a problem. As mentioned earlier, there are several
underlying reasons. For example in tilapia hatcheries, because of the inappropriate technology
adopted, fry survival has often been a problem. Similarly, most of the farmers use mix-sex
fingerlings so farmers are not be able to harvest uniform sized fish. Half of their fish (i.e.
females) will grow slower, and farmers also waste feed as the fish breed in the culture system
which leads to a net loss of energy for which farmers have to pay. This problem can be easily
solved by introducing proper sex-reversal techniques of the kind widely practiced in Asia and
some parts of Latin America.
Figure 16 Factors affecting survival of catfish fry (Young-Sulem et al., 2007)
Regarding catfish fry, survival can be very low due mainly to cannibalism and predation (Fig
16). According to Yong-Sulem et al., (2007) survival can be improved significantly by avoiding
predation. The use of fences showed a 28% increase in survival, when fry are reared in hapas;
survival was further increased by 34% and the combination of hapa rearing and the use of bird
63
nets increased survival by 55% compared with nursing in open ponds. Stocking density in hapas
has significant impacts on survival. A stocking density of 29 fry / m2 was found to be most
profitable. Therefore, depending upon the choice and availability of materials, farmers can
improve the survival of catfish fry thereby increasing profitability.
5.4.5
Limited alternative species
Very few fish species have been culture in Africa. There are number of exotic but non-invasive
species which normally perform well and can be cultured normally, outperforming indigenous
species, some of which can be cultured using polyculture utilizing every layer of the pond water.
For example common carp (Cyprinus carpio), and mrigal (Cirrhinus mrigala) consume detritus
at the bottom of the pond, Catla (Catla catla) and silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) filter
plankton from the water column and grass carp (Ctenopharyingodon idella) consume grasses
grown on the pond dikes. However, these species are not known to most parts of Africa. At the
same time, they are not accepted purely because they are considered alien species. However,
some of these species are available in many countries and areas. As there are significant Chinese
and Indian communities in Africa, growing these fish could benefit in two ways - high price e.g.
grass carp is the best choice among Chinese, and these carps could provide increased profits
because they can be cultured in polyculture systems without any additional inputs. Breeding
techniques are almost the same as those used for catfish.
Most African governments restrict the introduction of exotic species, which can be considered
itself a form of resistance to aquaculture development. Experience shows that most countries
which have developed aquaculture industries have done so by opening their doors to exotic
species. Normally technologies are introduced along with the fish species. Farmers have to earn
enough to remain in business and people want to try new items in the market. ‘Loosening the
belt’ a little by applying the idea of zoning and separating areas for alien species and indigenous
species may solve the problem.
A lot of discussions are going on in many countries as to whether a country should promote its
indigenous fish species or accept exotic non-invasive species from outside. The policy should
favour the former as long as the country is endowed with adequate and suitable species for
culture. However, due to political reasons or the sentiments of people regarding nationalistic
feelings, many countries are reluctant to accept exotic species fearing that they may destroy
habitats and may cause extinction of indigenous species. India is one of the few countries which
basically restricts the introduction of exotic species because the country has its own carps
whereas a neighbouring country, Bangladesh, accepts almost any exotic species. As they share a
long border of river, the restrictions imposed by India are meaningless. Therefore, this needs to
be dealt with at a regional level. Most indigenous species are difficult to breed and have slow
growth, and considerable efforts and resources have to be spent on research which may take
over a decade. Since most countries have an immediate need with respect to producing more
fish; ready-made technology is required. According to De Silva et al., (2006), in general exotic
species play a major role in aquaculture development and are important sources of animal
nutrition and income across Asia. Total production of species may exceed 40% in other Asian
countries excluding China. Exotic species predominate in Indonesia, the Philippines and
Bangladesh. In Asia, experience shows that alien fish species have done little ecological harm to
64
native flora and fauna. Culture of exotic species contributes significantly to the food security,
particularly in rural Bangladesh. In Thailand aquaculture is dominated by the production of
alien species such as Nile tilapia (no. 1 cultured species) followed by hybrid catfish, common
carp, Rohu, Mrigal, silver carps and Mozambique tilapia. . They account for more than twothirds of the total inland aquaculture production in the country. More recently, Penaeus
vannamei, an exotic species, has replaced P. monodon almost completely and has created the
similar situation with respect to coastal aquaculture as well.
5.5 Socio-economic factors
5.5.1 Fear of failure
Aquaculture development in Africa is seen by most professionals as challenging, and the slow
pace of development frequently leads to frustration amongst stakeholders. Therefore, most
African governments have recently highlighted the need for a re-focus on aquaculture
development. It is not easy for an investor or farmer to take the decision to invest in an
aquaculture venture, unless some success stories are sufficiently highlighted and convincing
business plans are formulated and made available. Hence, model hatcheries need to be
established and operated profitably. Training and other programmes will be pursued more on a
theoretical basis, with a risk of failure. Africa cannot afford failures again and again.
5.5.2 Over subsidy
It is apparent that donor funds are pouring in to Africa. Therefore organizations and even
governments are eager to act quickly and show some results by any means. As a result,
programs may not be planned properly, without considering future impacts and sustainability
after the end of the project. It is necessary to create an understanding that any project is a joint
investment between the farmers and the government / NGOs / INGOs as partners rather than
promoting, though unintentionally, a ‘donors and recipient’ mentality. It has been found that
even fish hatcheries owned by private companies have often received direct grants in addition
to subsidies from the government in Zambia. In some countries in Asia, such as Nepal, fry
transport and marketing products are subsidized whereas in other countries, such as Thailand,
farmers typically drive to the government stations or private hatcheries to purchase seed. Once
the value of farming fish is well established and farmers realize it, they will invest their own
resources in aquaculture and related activities without the need of subsidies. Increase in the
number of fish farmers in any particular area with little or no subsidy will serve as an indicator
of success and long-term sustainability.
5.5.3 Security
Western investors are often put off investing funds in Africa when they have alternative
countries to invest in with less hassles and lower risk. At the same time, even when investments
65
are made, they have to add additional costs for security. For example, Lake Harvest in
Zimbabwe has a radar system to monitor cages throughout the night and there are security
guards stationed on each site in addition to another team of supervisors patrolling between
sites. Because of these issues investors may see reduction in profitability. However, careful
selection of sites with low risk and working closely with local people might avoid the problem of
security.
5.5.4 Shortage of private sector investment
In order to attract private investment in aquaculture, it has to be developed as competitive
packages. However, until now aquaculture has been considered to be run with support from
international organizations and from government. The need for such expenses as additional
security systems and a lack of appropriate human resources has made private investors wary of
investments in this sector. Private investors have recently started hatchery and nursery
businesses which have become very competitive. However, different countries have varying
levels of private sector maturity. In some countries, especially less developed countries,
government and people do not like to see the involvement of the private sector as they think
that private businesses reap off the huge profits from the farmers in the name of providing
services, whereas in other countries this is not the case.
66
6. Recommended actions
A shortage of high quality seed is the main problem in Africa. Therefore, a number of
recommendations in this section and Fig 17 briefly list the necessary step-by-step actions to be
followed. As initial steps it is recommended that existing hatcheries be identified which have the
potential for improvement and up-scaling, and also to select private individuals and groups who
might be interested in investing in seed businesses.
Action plans
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Identify and
select existing
hatcheries to
upgrade
Select
private
groups for
technical
assistance
Regulate /
monitor wild seed
collection
Visit and provide
on-site technical
assistance
Seed database
and quality
monitoring
program / body
Establish Brood
Development
Centers (BDCs)
Provide training
and help establish
model hatcheries
Plan for Human
institutional/capa
city development
Train to produce
fry establishing
hatchery
Certification and
Quality Assurance
program
Farmers groups
and cooperatives
for nursing and
seed distribution
Minimize wild
seed collection
and conserve wild
stock
Africa-Asia Cooperation facilitated by Europe and developed
world
Figure 17 Recommended actions in brief
6.1
Establish broodstock development centres (BDC) for African fishes
African governments are careful about preserving native aquatic species and very strict in the
movement of fish across national borders within continents. However, no planned conservation
programs appear to exist. Therefore, it is recommended to establish new or strengthen existing
67
Broodstock Development Centers (BDCs) in various African states for the conservation and
management of native fishes, specially the species which are abundant in certain
countries/regions where they are highly regarded. For examples, Kalimba farm in Zambia is
maintaining, and has already collected and stocked, Oreochromis andersonii (Bhujel, 2011) and
Bunda College in Malawi is carrying out research on O. karange and O. shiranus. These centres
should be upgraded as ‘gene banks’ and their activities should be supported and expanded
further. These BDCs should carry out the following:
6.2
collect the wild germ-plasm of key aquatic species with potential for aquaculture
maintain pure line stocks (gene banking) avoiding inbreeding and genetic drift
develop broodstock management systems and seed production techniques
carry out breeding trials to develop new strains through selective breeding
supply improved strains and/or species to hatchery operators
produce quality seed and supply to grow-out farmers
train farmers and interested individuals
Establish a Technical Assistance and Quality Certification (TAQC) Agency
It is recommended that a Technical Assistance and Quality Certification Unit (TAQCU) for the
fish seed production process and supply chain be established within the Ministry or Department
of Fisheries (DoF) in each country, which generates its own funds by providing fee-based
technical assistance and quality monitoring services and certification. The unit should have 2-3
well-trained personnel who can provide technical assistance to farmers with respect to
managing their fish farms as commercial enterprises. At the same time, it should develop and
offer various business models or ideas (e.g. hatchery as well as grow-out farms) to parties
interested in investing in fish farming at reasonable fees.
6.3
Hands on-training
There is a need to provide government staff and private hatchery operators and managers with
well-planned and well-established hands-on training at model hatcheries or training facilities
abroad so that they can return home with sufficient training to start hatchery operations. As
aquaculture is relatively new, it requires more interactions, seminars and workshops at various
levels such as national and regional levels. More collaborations and visits by experts to African
countries could help refresh and widen the knowledge of DoF staff and other policy makers,
researchers and extension workers. Annual functions, such as agriculture fairs, can be held
where staff and farmers who work hard and produce best results can be rewarded so that
others are also encouraged to do so e.g. ‘staff of the year’ and ‘best farmer of the year’ and so on.
Existing hatchery managers should be provided with appropriate training in the short term so
that they can produce high quality seed and increase their production capacity. For example, at
least 4-5 tilapia hatcheries in Zambia could be upgraded to produce up to 20-30 million fry per
year. Similarly, hatcheries in other countries such as Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana and, Kenya
could be assisted.
68
6.4
Establishment of model hatcheries
Emphasize establishing at least one model commercial tilapia and catfish hatchery in each
country with the capacity of producing and supplying 2 - 3 million high quality tilapia and
catfish seed per month, so that interested farmers can access seed easily when required. Initial
funding can be provided either by the government, donor agencies, and/or in joint venture with
a private company (Fig 18). However, the hatchery should be managed by an expert manager as
a self-sustaining and independent entity, gradually generating enough income to become
sustainable, to develop further as a model and increase in scale to meet the increasing demand
for high quality fry.
Private sector
Produce high
quality fry fish
(Commercial / Model
hatcheries)
Private sector or
Public (Govt/NGOs)
Individual farmers
Nurse fry to fingerlings and
delivery of fingerlings
Fingerling
stocking
Nursers and Traders
(Grow-out
farms)
Table fish
Marketing processing
Figure 18 Model hatcheries and seed supply network
In order to establish a private company, a Project Team should select two full-time and
enthusiastic Trainee Managers (TM) for well-planned, proper hands-on training experience at a
reputable training institute or centre. The managers learn, through practical work experience,
all aspects of the business such as broodstock hatchery, nursing, grow-out farming, water
quality management, and marketing. After training, the Trainee Managers return with fully
fledged plans to start and run the model hatchery profitably so that it serves as a model for
replication and can also train others as need. The model hatcheries should also provide
technical support to other interested people. The hatchery managers should also visit farmers to
interact directly with farmers and provide technical advice aimed at improving farming
practices and the provision of appropriate technologies. For example, use of inorganic fertilizers
e.g. urea and di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), use of feeding trays to reduce feed losses into the
bottom mud. These services should be effective as most African government departments
cannot provide this service due to lack of funds/budgets. The provision of these services can be
improved if farmers are located in clusters.
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6.5
Farmers groups / clusters / cooperatives
There is great potential in establishing tilapia and catfish hatcheries at various scales of
operation in African countries. Those who have land require technical support. Farmers can be
organized in groups or clusters to facilitate the provision of technical support. Unfortunately
most extension offices in African countries either do not have a vehicle, or lack the funds to
cover fuel costs to visit farmers. When farmers are in groups they can work together and share
experiences, they have an improved chance of success because they learn and help each other.
They can also be stronger as groups by lobbying to get support from the local governments or
even bargaining for the prices. However, it should be kept in mind that the success of a group
depends on how good the ‘Leader’ farmer selected or appointed to lead the group is. Therefore,
the role of leader is crucial. He/she should be keen on learning continuously, respected and
trusted by the members and interested in caring for group members without self-centred
interests. At the same time, a proper selection of project sites and a suitable community is very
important (Bhujel et al., 2008). In addition to facilitating the provision of hatchery-produced
seed, working in groups makes them easy to transport fingerlings from far away hatcheries. A
well organized group in Egypt produces and supplies over 50 million fry per year (Gupta et al.,
2004). Similarly, groups have been formed in Uganda which should be further expanded.
6.6
Regulate collection of wild seed resources
In some parts of Africa, such as Cameroon and Ghana, the collection of wild seed still plays a
major role in sustaining aquaculture operations. However, indiscriminate collection of small fry
from the wild eventually destroys the natural stock. Fry and fingerlings collected from the wild
are also used as baitfish for Nile perch. This can accelerate natural stock depletion and also
hampers aquaculture by making seed unavailable or increasing price. A proper study should be
conducted based on which regulatory measures can be applied in order to support aquaculture
without harming the wild resources. However, in areas where wild fish stocks remain in good
shape and the country is obliged to allow farmers to catch wild fry or fingerlings, there should
be some regulations such as which species to be allowed or banned, how much is allowed per
day, week or month, what size range to allow and which area is allowed. More importantly,
these activities should be monitored and systematized.
6.7
Upgrade existing hatcheries
Revitalize existing government hatcheries or stations which were built for the breeding of
multi-species e.g. common carps, catfishes, tilapias and others. These government stations and
facilities at the provincial and district levels should be operated as commercial hatcheries and
grow-out farms wherever possible, as models for demonstration and training sites. By doing
this, staff of those centres obtain practical experience so that they can train farmers and
extension workers and carry out further research. At the same time, these stations could
generate additional income which could cover at least some part of their expenses. Provincial
stations of DoF in Thailand, for instance, have tilapia hatcheries which produce fry and
fingerlings and sell to farmers at a reasonable price in addition to providing technical assistance.
Many stations are largely dysfunctional despite possessing considerable infrastructure e.g.
Bunda college in Malawi, Mkera in Zambia and several others, and have the potential for
contributing to aquaculture development, if properly managed or transferred to the private
70
sector to allow them to operate profitably while providing training services and other
government activities.
71
6.8
Technical assistance and certification of existing hatcheries
Some farmers are uncertain of the quality of fry and fingerlings produced in Africa. However,
they have a restricted choice as quality seed is not easily available in the continent. The need for
seed quality certification is apparent. Certification by an independent authority, along with the
provision of technical assistance, could be helpful. Based on national regulations for transboundary movement of fish, certification is normally compulsory if hatcheries are selling seed
and broodstock across international borders. In some Asian countries, such as Thailand, seed is
certified and graded for quality by the Department of Fisheries. Exporting hatcheries or farms
have to have CoC (Code of Conduct) or GMP (Good Management Practice) certification,
renewable on an annual basis,, and they have to receive a Health Certificate each time they
export by testing a sample of seed not earlier than a week prior to the date of export. The health
certificate is issued for the batches of seed tested if found free of pathogens. A certificate of
origin is also required by hatcheries opting to export, indicating the source of the seed and
broodstock, the name of the establishment and date of production.
Among African countries, Egypt seems to have these systems in place (Brummett, 2007)
including a Health Certificate issued by the General Authority for Veterinary Services and a
Certificate of Origin issued by the General Authority for Fish Resources Development (GAFRD).
In Uganda, farms producing fish and fingerlings have to be certified by law (Fish Act 1964
known as the Fish Aquaculture, Rules 2003 instrument number 31). Using similar methods or
steps, commercial seed production can also be regulated and/certified in other African
countries.
6.9
The promotion of contract farming
One way of producing and supplying fish seed can be way of contract farming arrangements,
involving cooperation between the private sector and groups of farmers or cooperatives. Since
fish hatcheries typically need a significant capital investment and have a potential for high profit
margins, they are often best suited to commercial investors. But they have to treat farmers as
customers. Relatively larger and richer private companies can create a number of fish farmers’
groups. As an incentive, private companies can assist by hiring technical personnel to help those
farmers and also provide a buy-back guarantee for the table fish from the farmers.
Cooperation between commercial hatcheries and farmer’s groups can be strengthened for the
mutual benefit of both parties. An example is CP Groups, a conglomerate of over 800 companies
and farmers groups in Thailand. The company established four hatcheries in central Thailand
after sending four managers for training at AIT. Each hatchery produces tilapia seed to
distribute to its farmer’s groups or cooperatives, which culture tilapia mainly in cages along the
rivers and canals. The company provides the fry and feed in addition to the grow-out farming
technology that includes the specifications of cages and other management practices. Within a
few years the number of farmer’s groups increased and expanded to the locations wherever
cage culture was possible throughout the country. As a result, production of red tilapia (branded
locally as Thapthim after the company asked the King of Thailand to give a new name) increased
tremendously within five years. Although cage farmers make up only 3% of the total fish
farmers in the country, they account for 30% of tilapia production in Thailand (Belton et. al.,
2009). Due to this well planned production and marketing strategy, red tilapia in Thailand is a
72
well-established product amongst restaurant chains and supermarkets, both as a live product
an in processed forms.
6.10
Extension services
The provision of information on fish seed to aquaculture producers has been one of the main
roles of extension offices and agents. For various reasons, including a shortage of funds and upto-date knowledge, traditional methods have been less effective. Problems of extension services
need to be analyzed and efforts should be made to correct and improve their effectiveness.
Extension staff of the government or NGOs are in need of more appropriate training. Extension
offices may serve as information providers and even suppliers of fish seed, which is relatively
easy without having field facilities. Wherever possible, and where government extension offices
do not exist, profit-based extension systems should be established, to be carried out by private
entrepreneurs or lead farmers in local communities - in other words, farmer-to-farmer
extension (Wetengere et. al., 2008). These entrepreneurs and farmers have to be trained in
extension services in addition to operating their fish farming businesses. Word-of-mouth of
successful farmers has greater weight in convincing poorly-educated or poorly-informed
farmers.
6.11 Establish/strengthen seed supply Networks
It is necessary to create new, or strengthen existing, national and regional networks of
hatcheries and seed supply networks to make good-quality seed available to farmers (Ponzoni
and Nguyen, 2008). Fish seed production should be the responsibility of the private sector,
facilitated by government or donor agencies in the early stages of development. Technical
packages or business plans for various scales of operation should be made available to private
investors especially for medium to large hatcheries so that private sectors will be willing to
invest. Fry production and delivery can be carried out by both public (NGOs/ Government) and
private (hatcheries, nurseries or traders) entities. Hatcheries should be spread over the
production areas to reduce transportation costs. The development and expansion of a
commercially driven tilapia and catfish industry is necessary to ensure that privately-funded
hatcheries can sustain the continuous production of an adequate supply of high quality seed and
supplying it to local farmers. They may then work together towards the provision of high quality
fingerlings for a large number of farmers who grow fish for their own consumption and/or for
the market. Once the industry is established, they can further expand the infrastructure and
continue technological innovation and adaptation. Eventually, they become a centre of
knowledge and experience for others. Technology transfer can continue through the private
sector.
As farmers often demand large fingerlings, the nursery production of fry can be carried out for
1-2 months, or to a size of 5 - 10 g (20-30g tilapia fingerlings for cage culture) in hapas so that
they are not mixed with feral stock. This can be done either by the hatcheries themselves or
grow-out farmers. Hatcheries can simply use a pond and few hapas for this purpose. Similarly,
each hatchery may sell small fry (<1g) to a Lead Farmer who can arrange transportation and
stock them in hapas in his/her pond or one of the farmer’s pond. They can then be distributed
when they are bigger e.g. 10g fingerlings for pond farming and over 20g for cage farmers. One of
the ways of carrying this out is through the establishment of a nursery production system. A
73
leader farmer from each cluster could invest in transportation and carry out nursery production
in each village or cluster, and then sell to the farmers at a higher price that covers his or her
costs with some profit margin. Small-scale nurseries can run as successful businesses (e.g.
Bangladesh, Thailand, Malawi etc). They can also function as nuclei for other aquaculture farms
nearby.
In some countries, such as in Thailand, farmers can afford a pick-up truck and surface road
network is quite good. Consequently seed transportation is not a big problem. Normally,
farmers themselves can afford to drive to purchase fish seed. There are also middlemen who
buy fry, nurse them and sell to the farmers in the area. However, in some other countries where
roads are not good and poor or mid-level farmers cannot afford pick-up trucks e.g. Nepal, the
government provides seed transportation as a kind of subsidy. In Bangladesh, there are
networks of seed nursing groups. They purchase smaller fry from hatcheries, grow-out in
nurseries for about 2-3 months and then sell the larger fingerlings to the grow-out farmers. In
Bangladesh, fish farmers are often relatively or sometimes very poor and therefore a majority of
farmers may need seed supply networks although they may pay extra for that service. Fry
traders and middlemen in Bangladesh often use tricycle or even walk carrying aluminium patils
full of fish seed, hanging from both sides of a stick resting on the shoulders.
6.12 Loans and micro-finance
The provision of micro-finance to poor farmers who want to start small fry nursing businesses
could be one of the options. Unlike grow-out farming, hatchery and nursery production is often
more profitable and has a faster financial return. Micro-finance may be arranged for the group
without collateral. There has to be a provision that the group collects monthly fees and
accumulates savings to gradually develop as a cooperative. However, farmers ultimately have to
depend on the seed source, typically a large hatchery. For the large hatcheries the provision of
medium-term loans (3-5 years) would be sufficient but larger amounts with monthly
repayments only after the farm starts selling its products is needed.
6.13 Institutional capacity development
Educational institutions represent the backbone of the aquaculture sector, and provide various
forms of support for research, education and extension. In most countries, education, research
and extension functions are clearly divided among institutions. However, in Africa it appears
that fisheries and aquaculture education is limited to undergraduate degree-level only. Very few
offer post-graduate education and so few students get a chance to obtain higher degrees. It is
recommended that M. Sc. Degree courses in Aquaculture and Fisheries be introduced. However,
curriculae have to be developed through rigorous processes so that graduates receive a
practical and relevant education. Similarly, DoF stations with pond, tank and/or hatchery
facilities should be developed as Research Institutions with the mandate of carrying out
research, and developing technologies and testing them through outreach programs.
Once the hatcheries start running smoothly, they can then serve as better training and extension
centres (Anetekhai et. al., 2004) offering services to interested individuals but charging
standard fees, thus providing a good and permanent source of income.
74
6.14 Human resource development
Experience has shown that traditional training organized for selected extension staff of public
organizations has often been ineffective. In Asia the transfer of technology has recently been
pursued through the private sector, especially in case of fish seed production and supply. An
immediate requirement is to choose one of the applicable models currently used in Asia. Based
on this model, a private company in each country or region can be selected to decide its two fulltime, enthusiastic Trainee Managers (TM) for well-planned, proper hands-on training in a
reputable training centre, such as AIT in Thailand. The trainee managers learn all aspects of the
business such as broodstock management, hatchery production, nursery production, grow-out
farming, feeding, pond preparation and fertilization, water quality management and marketing.
After training, the Trainee Managers may then return fully equipped to start and run a hatchery
farm.
In the long-run, African governments need to develop a Master Plan for aquaculture and fish
seed supply which includes human resource development, including expertise for each country
based on the need for examples, a hatchery and breeding expert, a feed and nutrition expert, a
socio-economic expert and so on. These experts would lead the research and extension or
technology transfer in their specific areas in their respective countries.
6.15 South-South cooperation
Government and professionals from both Africa and some developed countries have felt the
need for more South-South cooperation, especially with Asian countries. The obvious reason is
that the technologies used by these countries are more practical and directly applicable in the
context of African nations. The main idea is to explore and scrutinize the appropriate
technologies and apply them directly to Africa, creating links with southern countries, especially
those in Asia. Indeed, cooperation has already begun, for instance the technical support
provided to Malawi to establish a tilapia hatchery as described in an earlier section, and the
technical support provided to tilapia farmers and hatcheries in Zambia under FAO’s Technical
Cooperation Program (Bhujel, 2011a,b). There have recently been a number of high level official
visits to Asia, such as the recent e.g. Ugandan Minister’s visit to Vietnam. As a result, a few
Vietnamese technical experts are providing technical assistance. However, care has to be taken
as the cost of going out from Africa is high and study tours of a few days duration have been
found to be less productive. Experience suggests that a very quick and desired resulted can be
achieved by arranging well-planned hands-on training or work experience for trainee managers
of private companies who have been assigned to run a hatchery upon return. Cooperation
should also not only be in terms of training and education but also in terms of investment, which
is increasing from China and India.
6.16 Database and reporting of seed production and supply
It is necessary to maintain a good database of seed production and supply in order to support
the planning and implementation of any projects or programs. However, there are currently no
systematic practices for data collection, compilation, interpretation and reporting. The
formulation and implementation of a policy requiring all farmers to register their hatcheries or
farms with their corresponding local government, and also report their fry and fingerling
75
production data at least annually, categorized according to species, is recommended. For this
purpose, the relevant Ministry or Department of Fisheries (DoF) should develop a common
template containing the detailed information of fish and fingerling productions in each district
so that all the District Offices can collect, compile and report to Headquarters.
6.17 Dissemination of technology / models
Once some hatcheries start producing good quality fry, they should be publicized using public
media such as TV, radio and magazines so that any member of the public who may want to
invest in aquaculture may obtain the relevant information easily. Each country should have a
platform for discussion via social networks and professional email groups e.g. SARNISSA,
Facebook and email lists.
Often manuals and extension materials are produced by educators who may not possess the
necessary skills to do so. Therefore, they are mostly informative but sometimes less practical.
Once model hatcheries start running successfully, producing manuals based on those
experiences and translating into local languages would be the best way to help farmers. More
importantly, organizing on-site hands-on training using the manual produced would be the best
strategy to replicate the same in another location. Mass media avenues such as TV programs,
documentaries, magazine articles and so on, are needed to create awareness, but ultimately
those who want to start a fish hatchery or grow-out farm will need practical training. There is a
high risk of failure if someone just jumps into the business with limited knowledge and little or
no skill. This is happening in many cases in Africa. Examples of commercial failure will deter
other stakeholders from investing in aquaculture.
6.18 Accessory and input supply systems
In order to successfully run a fish hatchery, a farmer needs various inputs such as feed,
fertilizer, hapas, pumps, air-stones, cage nets, plastic bags and so on. Aquaculture development
should not be considered as stand-alone industry. The status of other associated industries
must also be considered. It many cases it is not possible to run successful operations if
accessories need to be imported. Government or program planners have to consider supporting
these input supplies to ensure that they are made available to the farmers in the area or within
the country. For example, a hapa is one of the necessary items. Strong and high quality hapa nets
are not available in Africa. A similar situation was in evidence in Bangladesh few years ago,
when an associated private company was encouraged to start a hapa production business when
the hapa-based tilapia hatchery system was promoted.
Other inputs are also not easily available in Africa, such as feed, hormones for induced breeding
and sex-reversal, water quality test kits and so on. In most of these cases, inputs are available
but due to lack of information, farmers or users can’t find them. Each country should have
Aquaculture Buyer’s Guides such in Uganda and Nigeria, made available to every citizen through
the internet, social networks (Facebook, Twitter etc.), and other mass media. It is important that
farmers and investors should have several choices of inputs and several sources of suppliers so
that they have some control over prices. These may be arranged through associations and other
forms of groups, cooperatives, clubs, and so on. For example, National Fish Farmers
Associations such as RENAPIB in Benin and the Walimi Cooperative in Uganda are actively
76
providing marketing services to their members in fish marketing and fingerling purchase and
sales, acting as bridges between producers and suppliers. There can be difficulties when inputs
involve cross border trade. Bi- or multi-lateral agreements may then be necessary. The East
African Community (EAC) Trade Agreement, for example, has supported the movement of fish
fingerlings and table fish between Kenyan and Ugandan markets, and also into Rwanda and
Sudan. In such cases, issues of disease transmission, food safety and quality control can be
critical, and therefore have to be resolved through effective monitoring.
77
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For any further correspondence related to this report please contact:
Dr Ram Bhujel : [email protected] Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok
Thailand http://www.aqua.ait.ac.th/
NEPAD can be contacted through Sloans Chimatiro [email protected] and their website
http://www.nepad.org/
For the Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling UK please contact
John Bostock [email protected] www.aqua.stir.ac.uk
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