nepad strategic seed supply report feb 14 final draft
TRANSCRIPT
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Partnership for African Fisheries (PAF) Aquaculture Working Group:
Strategic review on sub Saharan African aquaculture seed supply
Author: Ram C. Bhujel
Authors 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.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.nepad.org/http://www.sarnissa.org/http://www.aqua.stir.ac.uk/http://www.aqua.stir.ac.uk/mailto:[email protected] -
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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available published and unpublished literature and also collected via emailcommunications with key professionals in each of the selected countries.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 small-
scale catfish hatcheries following policy support and encouragement by thegovernment. 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 relevantpublic institution or should be managed by a private company
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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.
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Acknowledgments
The author would like to acknowledge the contributions of the following persons who providedvaluable information during this study; namely:
Prof Charles Ngugi, Kenyatta University in Kenya provided recent literature concerning the fishseed status of his country.
Information provided by Mr Peter Marangu from Kenya, who was in Thailand for training ontilapia hatchery and sex-reversed fry production techniques, has also been valuable in rovidingsome insight into Kenyan fish seed demand and current status.
Dr David Nguenga and Victor Pouomonge from IRAD, Cameroon provided recent literatureabout the fish seed status in Cameroon. Mr Serge CIEWE, Aquaculture consultant based in thecapital 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 latestinformation 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 thecompilation of this report.
Angus McNiven from Farm Aqua, based in Thailand, provided information and pictures of ahatchery in Malawi which was built through his technical assistance.
Mark Woollard, an Intern at AIT from Plymouth University, UK who assisted in collecting someinformation about fish seed in Africa.
The author also expresses gratitude to James Muir and John Bostock from University of Stirlingwho provided this opportunity.
Thanks are also due to the anonymous reviewer who provided constructive suggestions and toTrevor Meyer, John Bostock and Will Leschen for assistance in editing.
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Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 81.1 Background ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 81.2 Goal and objectives ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15
2. OVERVIEW OF THE SEED PRODUCTION AND SUPPLY ---------------------------------- 162.1 Wild seed collection and supply ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 182.2 Tilapia seed production and supply ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 192.2.1 Mixed sex fry production ........................................................... ............................................................ 192.2.2 Hybridization method ............................................................................................................................ 212.2.3 YY-male technology ......................................................... ................................................................. ...... 212.2.4 Hormonal sex-reversal technique ......................................................................................... ................. 222.2.5 Financial aspect ............................................................... ................................................................. ...... 232.2.6 Conclusion ............................................................................................. ................................................. 252.3 Catfish seed production ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 262.3.1 Broodfish preparation ..................................................... ................................................................. ...... 262.3.2 Hormone injection ......................... ................................................................. ....................................... 27
2.3.3 Egg incubation ...................................................... ................................................................. ................. 282.3.4 Larval rearing ........................................................ ................................................................. ................. 282.3.5 Fry nursery rearing ..................................................................................................... ............................ 282.3.6 Financial aspect ............................................................... ................................................................. ...... 292.4 Other species seed production and supply ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 312.4.1 Mullet seed production and supply ................................ ................................................................ ....... 312.4.2 Rain bow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) seed production ................................................................ ...... 322.4.3 Carps seed production and supply ....................................................... .................................................. 35
3. ISSUES IN SEED PRODUCTION AND SUPPLY ----------------------------------------------- 373.1 Seed quality issue ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 373.2 Seed Supply Models ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 383.3 Role of Public and Private Sectors --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 40
4. CURRENT STATUS IN SELECTED AFRICAN COUNTRIES --------------------------------- 414.1 Cameroon ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 424.2 Egypt ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 434.3 Ghana----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 444.4 Kenya ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 474.5 Malawi --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 474.6 Nigeria ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 494.7 Tanzania ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 504.8 Uganda --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 514.9 Zambia --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 544.10 Zimbabwe ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 574.11 Summary status --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 58
5. MAJOR CONSTRAINTS --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 615.1 Human resource --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 615.2 Water resource ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 615.3 Information gap --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 615.4 Biological factors -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 625.4.1 Wild seed .............................................................. ................................................................. ................. 625.4.2 Used as live-bait and high price ............................................................................................................. 625.4.3 Genetic quality ..................................................... ................................................................. ................. 625.4.4 Low fry survival and quality.................................................................................................................... 635.4.5 Limited alternative species .................................................................. .................................................. 645.5 Socio-economic factors ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 655.5.1 Fear of failure .................................................................................................. ....................................... 65
5.5.2 Over subsidy ......................................................... ................................................................. ................. 655.5.3 Security................................................................................................................................................... 65
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5.5.4 Shortage of private sector investment ............................................................ ....................................... 66
6. RECOMMENDED ACTIONS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 676.1 Establish broodstock development centres (BDC) for African fishes ------------------------------------------ 676.2 Establish a Technical Assistance and Quality Certification (TAQC) Agency ---------------------------------- 686.3 Hands on-training ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 686.4 Establishment of model hatcheries-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 696.5 Farmers groups / clusters / cooperatives ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 706.6 Regulate collection of wild seed resources --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 706.7 Upgrade existing hatcheries ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 706.8 Technical assistance and certification of existing hatcheries ---------------------------------------------------- 726.9 The promotion of contract farming ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 726.10 Extension services ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 736.11 Establish/strengthen seed supply Networks ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 736.12 Loans and micro-finance ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 746.13 Institutional capacity development ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 746.14 Human resource development ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 756.15 South-South cooperation --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 756.16 Database and reporting of seed production and supply ---------------------------------------------------------- 75
6.17 Dissemination of technology / models --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 766.18 Accessory and input supply systems ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 76
7. REFERENCES --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 78
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List of TablesTable 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) .............................................................. 18Table 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
Table 8 Cost benefit analysis of a private trout farm in Nepal with 8 tanks and Area = 215 m2) ......................... 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 FiguresFigure 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. andersoniibroods 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 studiesCase 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$2 billion a
year (Fig 1). Various workers have pointed out several reasons, including socio-economic
factors, cultural background, geo-physical conditions (e.g. dry climates or shortage of water)
and technological shortcomings. One of the main reasons is the shortage of quality seed when
and where it is required. A number of factors are directly associated with this problem including
production technology, lack of human resources and lack of government focus and appropriate
policies. In African countries, aquaculture was not considered a priority until they faced the
problem of declines in wild catch, alarmingly despite the fact that the concept of farming fish
was introduced as early as 1950s.
FAO data for aquaculture production shows Egypt, Nigeria, and Uganda are the leading
countries (Table 1). African governments have now recognized the value of aquaculture. Some
governments e.g. that of Kenya, are even announcing an unexpected level of investment as a
reaction. Similarly, various African states and their various consortia are projecting that they
need to promote aquaculture to be able to meet the projected demand of 3 million mt annually,
for which aquaculture production has to grow by 10% annually in the next 15 years from its
current level of production of about 1 million mt per year. The first and foremost important pre-
requisite for any food production sector such as aquaculture to grow at such a rate is the supply
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of quality seed which has to be available whenever and wherever is necessary. Availability of
fish seed stimulates the expansion of aquaculture (AOP, 1999b).
Figure 1Annual imports of fishery products to Africa (US$ millions) during 2006 - 2008 (FAO 2010)
Table 1Aquaculture 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 0.6Zambia 8,505 0.9
Ghana 6,854 0.7
Tanzania 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 0.2Malawi 1,620 0.2
Morocco 1,403 0.1
Cte d'Ivoire 1,290 0.1
Others 5,615 0.6
Total 987,888 100
Africa has over 7,500 freshwater fish species distributed in the natural water bodies of 48
countries, which makes up the worlds 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
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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 / cyprinidse) 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. karangein Malawi, O. andersoniiin 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 2Aquaculture 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 (Labeosp, Barbussp., 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) 6,995 0.7
Gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) 6,821 0.7
Others (Eels, Pike, Prawn, shrimp etc.) 35,302 3.6
Total 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. anguillarisand 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).
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Table 3Production of Nile tilapia (mt) in Africa 2009 (FAO FishStat+)
Countries Nile tilapia Per cent
Egypt 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
Total 434,135 100
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 rearingmethods for C. gariepinuslarvae 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 4African 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
Mali 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
Zimbabwe 2 0.0
Total 162,688 100
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 mayeven 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 suggeststhat 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 andwill 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-Gnaor 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.
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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 consideredwhile 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 publicentities (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 theform of overall success of aquaculture development in general. Small-scale aquaculture is
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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 privatesector. 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 thecommitment 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.
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1.2 Goal and objectives
The main goal of the present study is to review the status of, and recommend plans for theproduction 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
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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 andnatural 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 mostimportant 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 businessrequires specialized knowledge and management techniques, few farmers can understand and
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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, nurseryproduction 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 productionwith 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 PhanPla (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 commercialbusinesses 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.
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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 cannotbe 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 whileaquaculturists 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 isgoing 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 Liza ramada Mugil cephalus Valamugil sehli Total (millions)
Fry (million) % Fry (million) % Fry (million) %
2001 78.9 58.9 40.6 30.3 14.5 10.8 134
2002 101.5 74.6 15.4 11.3 19.3 14.2 136
2003 76.0 69.7 20.9 19.2 12.1 11.1 109
2004 66.6 69.8 12.8 13.4 16.0 16.8 95.42005 55.1 79.4 8.0 11.5 6.3 9.1 69.4
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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, fishdidnt 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 Chitraladastrain. 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. Mostimportantly, 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 insightto 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. mossambicuswas 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 smallfish 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
25C. 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
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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 enclosureswhich 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 5-
10% 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 iteasier 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 2-5females. 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 tilapiaover 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.
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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 (17-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/m2in outdoor cement tanksof 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. Establishingseveral 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 (Phamet al., 1998). There might be other factors, including environmental factors, in determining the
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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 qualitytilapia 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 ofTechnology (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 areheavy 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 methyl-
testosterone 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
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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 m2at 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 sex-
reversed hatchery based on an assumption of costs in Thailand.
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Table 6 Capital and operating costs of a typical sex-reversal tilapia hatchery
SN Equipment/materials Unit rate Units Total (US$)
1 Standby generator (in case electric failure) 700 1 700
2 Pump for incubation system (3.5 - 5 HP) 200 1 200
3 Pump for tray system (4 HP) 200 1 200
4 Air-pump, air stones etc. 600 2 1,200
5 Pick-up truck (1) 40,000 1 40,000
6 Refrigerator 600 2 1,200
7 DO Meter (DO, Temp & PH) 1,111 1 1,111
8 Microscope (to check quality) 500 1 500
9 MT-Hormone (kg) 600 1 600
10 Alcohol for MT-mixed feed (US$/month) + 1,000 12 12,000
11 Fish meal for MT-mixed feed (US$/m) + 600 12 7,200
12 Hapas (sizes 5, 20, 120 m2) * -
13 - Sex-reversal (5 m2) 15 100 1,500
14 - Nursing (40 m2) 40 30 1,200
15 - Broodstock (60 m2) 75 100 7,500
16 Scoop net - sets 18 6 108
17 Fry graders (3 sizes) 90 3 270
18 Egg incubator jars 25 20 500
19 Aluminium trays 8 100 800
20 Oxygen tanks 600 3 1,800
21 Plastic bowls 3 20 60
22 Plastic bags for packing 100 1,000 100,000
23 Water taps 3 100 300
Sub-total 178,949
SRT Hatchery operation costs (average costs in US$)
Unit cost /
month
Unit rate / m Total Remarks
1 PersonnelHatchery manager 1 600 600Broodstock manager 1 400 400Seed harvest staff 4 300 1,200SRT and Nursing technicians (2) 2 400 800Hatchery technician 1 400 400
2 SRT Hormone (g) 58 3 1463 Alcohol (L) 33 1 334 Nursing feed (kg): fish meal, vitamin, pellet 0.83 890 7425 Broodstock feed (kg) 0.43 500 2176 Electricity cost n/a n/a n/a7 Communication costs 25 2 508 Office cost (papers, printing etc) 4 1 4
9 Fuel costs (car & grass cutters) 267 1 26710 Water n/a n/a n/a11 packing supplies (plastic bags,O2,boxes) 73 1 73
12 Field supplies (fertilizer, lime, rope etc.) 107 1 107
13 Formalin (L) 0.93 33 3114 Maintenance (pvc, pumps etc.) 50 1 5015 Miscellaneous costs 50 1 5016 Field materials (bowl, swing net, gloves) 40 1 40Total 5,208
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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 m2at the density of 6 fish / m 2. Broodfish are stocked in hapas for breeding whenthey 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 andbecome stunted. Cage culture prevents overcrowding, as the females cannot recover the eggs for
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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, itis 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- 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 highquality (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 m2size 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 beinduced to spawn by hormonal injection using pituitary glands from donor fish. Catfish raised
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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, fedthree 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 - 300g).
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 25-30C 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 g 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 bowland moving with the feather.
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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 28C. 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.
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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-da