Sustainable development of aquaculture in Africa
There has been a substantial development of aquaculture in Africa over the last years. The idea of family ponds contributing to food security and development of the communities has expanded notably. Aquaculture is nowadays considered a profitable business, which has already been established at micro, small, medium and large scales. Commercial aquaculture has been expanding in several countries, such as Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Zambia, Malawi, Uganda, Kenya, Madagascar, Angola and Congo. The increase in the private sector, together with rising concern about fish supplies at national levels, has promoted a growing political awareness and support to aquaculture. Current proposals are focused on water related businesses as motors of development in aquaculture, to reach the longed-for objectives of food security and economical growth.
Tilapia fish culture has been practised since the 60´s, practically across the whole African continent. Traditionally, natural populations were and are still cultured in captivity in small farms or hatcheries. Several factors such as endogamy, exogamy, genetic drift and an involuntary natural (negative) selection have induced a loss of genetic diversity in these populations, to a point in which their growth rates are now 40% lower than that of wild populations. On the other hand, GIFT (“Genetically Improved Farmed Tilapia”) fish, which have been kept in captivity in Asia by professional geneticists and have been cultured selectively since the late 80´s, have improved growth rate in relation to the majority of cultured strains by at least 60%, and in some cases even by 100%.
The increase in investments from the private sector in aquaculture has contributed to solve some chronic problems such as the lack of seed and feed for farms. Even if these limitations have been overcome and the improvement in production has been remarkable, new problems have appeared, among which is the meagre yield of many of the local cultivated species. Current African legislation forbids genetically improved organisms to be introduced in farming, which has led to frustration among African producers.
The outcome of this frustration has been, in many cases, an illegal introduction of improved fish strains to Africa. Producers face the dilemma of being able to achieve a significant increase in their production using the top culture organism or adjust to the existing regulations and/or laws, using local varieties, which seem to be below international standards of growth rate. The possibility/need to obtain benefits might force producers to decide to import these high yield animals furtively, with the possible disastrous concomitant consequences for the environment and the rich tilapia species diversity existing in the African continent.
In order to prevent this, producers must collaborate with scientific and regulatory bodies to ensure that the best management practices possible are being used, that any changes in biodiversity in potentially affected areas are being monitored and that any emerging problem is addressed rapidly. It is essential, therefore, that national, regional, and international agencies, together with environmental managers work closely with the aquaculture industry so that the introduction of improved tilapia strains and the development and management of new enhanced strains from local species can be sustainable.
Menntun Consultoría Científica S.L. is organizing a workshop in which the aforementioned problems and questions will be addressed. The workshop will be carried out in collaboration with FAO and the World Fish Center and funded by the Spanish Agency of Cooperation (AECI), within its NAUTA Program