EGYPT:
A Big Catch Feeds Millions
Cam McGrath
CAIRO, Nov 1 (IPS) - As the sun rises over the Nile delta, workers at a fish farm in northern Egypt
open a sluice gate and sort through the thousands of wriggling tilapia that pour
out of a concrete holding tank. The fish are sorted, packed into crates and sent
to supermarkets in Cairo and Alexandria, where they are sold as "the catch of
the day".
Egypt has built the largest aquaculture industry in Africa, accounting for four
out of every five fish farmed on the continent. Egyptian fish farms produced over
650,000 tons of finfish last year, or about 60 percent of the country's total
freshwater and marine fish production, providing a cheap source of protein
for the country's 80 million people.
"The massive growth of aquaculture has kept fish affordable for the majority
of Egyptians, so that today fish and poultry prices are more or less similar
(cost) per kilo basis," says Malcolm Beveridge, Director of Aquaculture and
Genetics at the WorldFish Centre. "It seems the majority of consumers switch
between the two, depending on which is cheaper."
Commercial fish farming in Egypt began in the 1960s with mullet-rearing
pens in coastal lakes and lagoons. The industry has witnessed explosive
growth over the past decade. Total aquaculture production has grown by 500
percent since 1998 due to a shift to intensive rearing methods and faster
growing species such as tilapia.
The General Authority for Fish Resources Development (GAFRD) plans to
develop the country's aquaculture industry further, and has set a goal of 1.1
million tons of farmed fish, or about 75 percent of total fish production, by
2012. Its two-pronged strategy aims to increase the productivity of
freshwater aquaculture operations, while encouraging investment in marine
aquaculture, or mariculture.
Egypt's limited freshwater resources are a major constraint to aquaculture
development. The populous desert country relies on the Nile River for 95
percent of its water needs, and water usage is considered a national security
issue. Priority is given to potable water and crop irrigation, leaving more than
90 percent of the country's fish farms to operate on agricultural run-off.
"It's not the best idea to use agricultural drainage water for producing fish,
because although there are a lot of nutrients in it, there are also pesticide
residues, and these pose an unspecified risk to consumers," says Beveridge.
"It makes more sense to let aquaculture have first use of water, and to allow
the drainage from fish farms to be used for agriculture."
Laws passed over a quarter of a century ago prohibit aquaculture projects
from drawing surface water, but a loophole permits fish farms to have first
use of groundwater. Farmers can pump clean water from aquifers into fish
ponds, using the nutrient-rich drainage of these ponds to fertilise and
irrigate field crops - a holistic approach to food production known as
integrated aquaculture.
The technique is already in practice on an experimental farm in Wadi Natroun,
a depression 110 kilometers northwest of Cairo. "The pilot project serves as
an example for farmers working in the desert on how they can increase their
productivity and income using the same volume of water for two, or maybe
even three, purposes," says GAFRD chairman Mohamed Fathy.
The method revolves around nutrient sharing and waste recycling, he says.
"First, the farmer pumps underground water into ponds for raising tilapia,
and then for catfish. The water from the catfish ponds is used to irrigate
alfalfa, and on these fields he lets his sheep and goats graze. The manure of
the livestock is used to make biogas, which in turn is used to increase the
water temperature of his tilapia hatcheries, or to warm the fish ponds in
winter."
Integrated aquaculture currently accounts for a small fraction of Egypt's total
fish farm production, but its share is expected to grow quickly. Fathy sees
enormous potential for the technique to increase the food productivity of vast
tracts of reclaimed desert land.
GAFRD is involved in several projects to increase aquaculture productivity,
including hatchery development, genetics research and breeding
programmes. It hopes to increase average annual production of freshwater
fish farms to 5 tons per acre, up from an average of 1-3 tons per acre.
The agency is also issuing trying to promote mariculture, which currently
contributes 5 percent of total fish production. Marine fish farms already
produce mullet, sea bass, sea bream, eels, shrimp and mollusks, and GAFRD
has earmarked areas of coastline for development of cage culture and
offshore fish farms.
Species selection will be critical to the commercial success of these projects,
say experts. Mariculture operators must consider a fish's rearing costs,
growth rate, space requirements and market demand.
Native plant-eating fish like mullet are in high local demand, but must be
reared in shallow ponds with large surface area. By contrast, sea bass and sea
bream can be cultured intensively in cages or tanks, but require enriched fish
feeds that drive up costs.
"Getting land in Egypt is not so easy now because of competition with
tourism and agriculture, which is why mariculture usually favours sea bass
and bream," says Sherif Sadek, a local aquaculture consultant. "What we need
is a popular fish that we can culture in marine environments without the need
for high-protein feed. Otherwise I'm afraid the fish will be exclusively for
export or rich people."
The expansion of tilapia hatcheries, which supply nearly all the fry and
fingerlings used by Egyptian tilapia farms, has decreased the price of
stocking freshwater fish farms to a tenth over the past decade. GAFRD is now
licensing hatcheries for several marine species, which - along with expanded
fish feed manufacture - is expected to reduce production costs.
The real winner, say experts, is the Egyptian consumer. The growth of the
aquaculture sector has resulted in lower retail fish prices, which has in part
encouraged Egyptians to add more fish to their diet. Per capita fish
consumption has doubled since 1995 to reach nearly 14 kilograms, and fish
now accounts for over 20 percent of animal protein intake.
"You'll find fish on the table even in the most remote desert oasis," says
Sadek. (END/2009)
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