More than a fourth of animal protein consumed by man is aquatic in origin. In Uganda, the source of this nutrition is mainly from fresh water lakes and rivers. Lake Victoria shared by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda supplies the largest bulk of fish followed by Lakes Albert, Edward, George, Kyoga and Bunyonyi. The major fish species are Nile Perch, Tilapia and African Catfish.
Fisheries resources are being depleted from natural bodies through overfishing, use of inappropriate fishing gears and methods, lack of adequate regulatory policies and poor enforcement.
• High demand for fish on the regional and international market pushing up prices thereby making it unaffordable for the ordinary person.
• Population explosion of Uganda now at 30 million growing at 3.4% annually exerting pressure on natural fisheries resources requires focus to shift to pond fish farming.
• Failure at policy levels to adequately plan for sustainable future supplies through scientific and technological manipulation of components of nature to achieve greater control over production of aquatic organisms while at the same time taking into account environmental conservation and ecology.
Current Production
The increasing consumer population on the local, regional and international markets requires bigger fish production above the combined 450,000 metric tons production per annum being produced currently to match with the growing demand which has to be met from pond fish farming.
The Uganda fish industry with an annual production figure of 450,000 tons of fish per annum is not enough to sustain an export market of 60,000 tons on top of an internal and regional market forcing many fish processing factories to close down due to declining fish harvests.
The market size for fish is very wide to include the regional market needs whose total population is above 100 million people which demands production be stepped up to match demand and to cater for an annual population growth estimated at 3.4%. In the East African region, the challenge is producing enough food to feed the population which will involve large investment in agriculture and its diversification. Uganda has fast developing trade links that require sustainable production to be given strategic planning priority.
Prospects for Investment
Opportunities for investment with high profits exist in pond fish farming for local farmers who can either harvest rainwater or utilize wetlands.
Benefits of Aquaculture
• Productive use of wetlands and poor agricultural land
• Natural resource conservation of water and soil• High economic value of aquaculture products in a subsistence level economy. Approximately 8000kgs of fish can be produced from 1 hectare poly culture pond applying on farm food supplements and animal manure in one year
• High nutritional value of aquaculture products
• Integrated aquaculture is a sustainable form of agriculture that combine garden irrigation, livestock watering and other domestic uses
• Self sufficiency for subsistence farmers by making fresh fish available in rural areas
For those with higher investment capital outlays, opportunities exist in setting up hatcheries using simple appropriate technology. National Fisheries Resources Research Institute Nafirri at Kajansi has developed the hatchery technology in especially African Catfish and Nile Tilapia and disseminated the findings with a number of farmers setting up private hatcheries in the central region of Uganda. Nafirri will provide the necessary technical support to the business.
The processes that can employed are outlined below
Tilapia
Select seed brood fish from Nafirri at Kajansi
• Introduce into breeding tanks brood fish of 200g to 300g in the ratio of 3 to 1 female to male per m2 surface area
• Fertilize pond with animal manure and or chemical manure for phytoplankton to bloom water visibility to a depth of 30 cm
• Feed brood fish with 2% body weight palletized or ground feeds containing 30% crude protein
• Start collecting fry daily from 15 to 25 days after stocking and transfer to nursery tanks using 1.5 to 2 mm seine nets at stocking ratio of 750 fry per m2
• Harvest brood fish separated by sex for two weeks reconditioning in separate tanks before restocking in breeding tanks after draining
• Nurse fry for 6 to 7 weeks until fingerlings weigh 5 to10g
• Grade fingerlings and deliver to farmers
Catfish
The hatching technology to be employed for catfish will be the artificial method improvised and modified using locally available materials and expertise whereby the eggs are stripped and out of the females and the males sacrificed for collection of milt for fertilizing eggs then the mixture placed on 1mm mesh trays in the breeding tanks as observed at Sunfish Farm to avoid costs of buying expensive modern hormones.
Milt from one male will fertilize the eggs of 10 to 15 females if diluted with an equal volume of 9g salt solution to 1 liter of boiled water and the mixture added an equal volume of clean water. This appropriate intermediate technology works well although it is laborious and time consuming as the water temperature has to be under constant observation at 28o C to 30o C for 22 hours of incubation before hatching.
