WIO Mariculture Forum

Reproduced from the Sea Grant Network listserve:

Mauritius: The introduction of aquaculture

by Pynee Chellapermal (translated from French)

On July 8, 2008, the Mauritian Parliament passed an amendment to the Fisheries and Marine Resources Act (2007) through the Bill of Finance in 2008. Note that the Bill of Finance of the provisions and fiscal measures taken by the Government for fiscal year 2008-2009. Therefore, carrying out this amendment under the Bill of Finance in place of an amendment directly to the law on fisheries and marine resources, depriving citizens of the desirability of a real debate and make a critical analysis of the amendments.

These amendments are intended to enable the development of aquaculture in the lagoon and outside the lagoon. Section 8C of the bill speaks of ‘Concessions on portions of the lagoon and sea for aquaculture projects for a period of 20 years initially, then renewable for periods of 10 consecutive years. These concessions will be granted to both
Mauritian and  foreign investors and  will be denied access to traditional users including fishermen, boaters, divers and practicing water sports. Violations are punishable by fines and even imprisonment.

These amendments have prompted the reaction of the Mauritian society and in particular fishermen’s associations, NGOs, associations of boaters, skipper, some operators in the tourism sector such as the Association of divers, service providers in the field of sports Sailing, environmentalists and ordinary citizens. All these organizations and civil society movements came together in a platform that took the name of Kalipso (Calypso in French) to oppose aquaculture activities in the lagoon and sea, and to advocate for restoration the right of the public on Wednesday

Kalipso platform for the amendments that were passed constitute an unprecedented openness toward privatization of the sea, especially as the concessionaire rushing to mark his concession and that will control and administration ‘.

Also according Kalipso, ‘Apart from the disastrous impacts that aquaculture will have on the environment, other sectors including the social fabric, economic growth linked to tourism, food security for the poor, the quality of our tourist destination marine biodiversity and aspects practices related to safety at sea ‘, will suffer negative impacts.
Also, aquaculture activities in the lagoon and sea will constitute a serious infringement of freedom of movement on Wednesday, freedom guaranteed by our Constitution and the Civil Code (Article 538) which states that the sea forms the common heritage What the public domain that is not owned by the state, which may be subject to private ownership and is inalienable and imprescriptible.

Today the question of compatibility between the activities of offshore aquaculture and sustainable development is very pertinent . Several countries, which have embarked on similar activities, have had some problems and had to abandon their activities.

Regional Program for Sustainable Management of the Coastal Zones of the Indian Ocean  Countries (ReCoMaP), after awarding the first round of proposals this September is again calling for proposals. To read the call for proposal please click the link ReCoMaP. ReCoMaP has requested that you circulate the call to colleagues.

With exception of seaweed farming and may be the long story on shrimp farming mariculture was insignificant in the WIO region untill about half a decade ago. Today it is not so insignificant. The news is, of the 29 projects that have just been launched by ReCoMaP 24% are mariculture projects. The mariculture projects have been narrowly overtaken by coastal erosion that forms 25%. To read more about this including the ranking of the recipient countries please click “http://www.recomap-io.org/downloads/publications/nl/nl5.pdf” for their newletter. There are also very interesting aquaculture discussions at “http//www.sarnissa.org“. SARNISSA is an acronymn for “Sustainable Aquaculture Research Networks in Sub Saharan Africa”. This is by all means good news to mariculturists and please lets get the spirit running. 

I am kindly inviting forum authors and subscribers to post interesting information for all of us to share. The national authors can post directly to the forum while the subscribers can send files to the national coordinators or to me mmochi@ims.udsm.ac.tz copied to mmochi2003@yahoo.co.uk.  I would also like to remind you that all subscribers can comment to a post by clicking “responses” after logging in and a window will open for your comments.

CHEERS

Mmochi

World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Rufiji-Mafia-Kilwa (RUMAKI) Seascape Programme aims to improve the socio-economic well-being of coastal communities in Rufiji, Mafia and Kilwa through promoting sustainable, participatory and equitable utilisation and protection of marine & coastal resources. The programme is implemented by WWF in partnership with the National Environment Management Council (NEMC), the Fisheries Division of the Ministry of Livestock & Fisheries Development; District Councils in Rufiji, Mafia and Kilwa, Mafia Island Marine Park, and local coastal communities. The programme is co-ordinated from DSM, but mainly operates through two field offices in Mafia and Kilwa. Community livelihoods projects, including mariculture initiatives involving pearl oysters, milkfish and mangrove crabs are an important component of the overall programme. The programme is seeking for a mariculture officer to work with communities in the RUMAKI area. For more details on the job opportunity please click mariculture-officer-job-ad-aug082

Establishment of the research and training centre in Pemba

In Mozambique, research in the aquaculture sector is still in the early stages of development but the country is not lagging behind, as we look ahead to have a sustainable aquaculture industry that is environmental friendly and economically viable.

The establishment of a National Centre for aquaculture is a step forward in the development of sustainable marine resource development in Mozambique. The existing capacity in terms of human resources and research infrastructure has limited aquaculture development to larger projects financed by inward investment from overseas and with skilled positions mostly staffed by expatriate workers.

The Nuffield Foundation (UK) is supporting a 5 year project (2007-2011), which is collaboration between the Mozambique Ministry of Fisheries, Aquaculture Department, Instituto Nacional de Investigacao Pesqueira (IIP), University Eduardo Mondlane (UEM) and the School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University (UK). The initiative aims to enable training of Mozambicans to provide the technical expertise needed to support development of aquaculture, providing trained staff who can work in the industry and transfer that expertise to the wider community to promote uptake of aquaculture as an economic activity.

The Pemba Marine Environment Centre (Figure 1) is very substantial, newly built (inaugurated in May 2007), and as-yet unoccupied. Funding was via the World Bank, and the centre is under the responsibility of the Ministry for Environment (MICOA). It includes complete buildings infrastructure for teaching field courses with 3 lecture rooms, several laboratories, cold and freezer storage rooms, office and dormitory accommodation for up to 40 people (figure 2), as well as a boat house.

The project will establish a research and training laboratory at the Pemba Marine Environment Centre, which has been identified as an excellent location for development particularly in terms of already-built wet and dry laboratories, cold storage, teaching rooms and accommodation – and location on the beach front for access to seawater.

Initial survey of the centre has been completed to determine requirements for infrastructure adaptation/development, and progress is currently underway to complete the equipment specification and installation by the end of 2008. The initial infrastructure installation will be seawater supply, live food production area, with system for experimental larval and juvenile shrimp culture in tanks in the wet lab, with the emphasis on flexibility and multi-purpose use for other species as required. The dry lab is to be equipped with general laboratory equipment to support research/training.

In the meantime, during the first year of the project, staffs from each of the Mozambique partners are completing MSc training in the UK. In addition, further staff have attended a short course on marine aquaculture in Bangor.

Figure 1. The Pemba Marine Environment Centre

Figure 2. The dormitory accommodation for up to 40 people at CEPAM

Information from Elisa Enguane, Mozambique.

It gives us pleasure to report that Mariculture practices are picking up in our WIO region. This is evidenced by the inauguration a fish farm at Kigomeni village in Tanga District in the northern parts of Tanzania. This historical event was done by his Excellency Honorable Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete the President of the United Republic of Tanzania on 21^st July 2008,

The Foundation Stone

This farm is jointly owned by 18 members since 2006, the fish farm has 7 ponds each approximately 1 acre, currently 4 ponds have been stocked with Milkfish and harvesting is expected to be in December 2008. To start with these farmers have adopted the extensive of fish farming method, but later are aiming at semi intensive method or polyculture of Milkfish and shrimps, a method that will enable the group to earn more income. On that event the group delivered the following message to the President.

“We decided to start this business after realizing that there is a tremendous decline in fish catches from the sea and the demand for fish is also increasing. So our association is focusing on increasing income to members, provision of work and also food security. We met and discussed the issue among us and realized that fish farming is the best option. One of us volunteered his land for ponds construction. We started the work in 2006 on our own but later we asked the SEMMA Project which is implemented by ACDI/VOCA- and funded by USAID, and Tanga District Aquaculture experts to assist us on technical aspects. At the moment the work is going on well. Our main constraints are lack of access to capital and availability of fingerlings as there are no hatcheries in the country. We mostly depend on the collection of the fingerlings from the wild stock which is not reliable and sustainable”.

The President of Tanzania, Honourable Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, officially launching 7 milkfish ponds at Chongoleani, Tanga District

In his replying speech to the group His Excellency the President said

“I congratulate you very much for the hard and valuable work you have done and also realizing that there is a decline in fish catches from the sea leading to fish shortage and the best solution to this is to start fish farming. This is a great thing you have done thank you very much. This is so great guys, to support the hard work you are doing, my contribution is Tanzania shillings 2,000,000 (approximately $ 1750) to assist you”

With this support , the association will be able to buy water pump and accessories.

Lugazo Zuberi, Juzar Sachak, Bakari Mkwawa and Frida Urio

ACDIVOC/SEMMA Project

Tanzania.

Since the launch in November we have been working hard with putting together these two websites, and we are pleased to announce that now they are up and running. To help us keep the Forum updated we have 9 authors from Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and Seychelles, who will post questions and moderate the discussions. We welcome any additional authors from countries in the WIO region, especially those that are not already represented, as well as authors from outside the WIO region. The role of the authors is to suggest discussion topics, upload publications, and to approve comments from the subscribers. The authors also develop and update the lists of experts and the experts’ respective fields of specialization. Furthermore, the authors maintain a list of small scale mariculture projects in the region.

The Forum website is accessible through a link at WIOMSA website, where you will also find a link to the Mariculture Network. As a member of the Network, you will receive automatic alerts to your e-mail account whenever a post, publication, announcement or any other important change is made.

We hope that you will find the Forum and Network websites useful, and that you will contribute with comments and posts on a regular basis in order to exchange information on mariculture development in the region and beyond.

ALL THE BEST AND GOOD LUCK,

Aviti J. Mmochi

Forum Co-ordinator

Introduction

A group of women seaweed farmers in Kidoti,  North Zanzibar known as “Tusife Moyo” translated as “We should not loose heart” has started to use the seaweed in the country. This work is done under the Zanzibar Seaweed Cluster Initiative of the Innovation Systems and Cluster Programme in Tanzania (ISCP-Tz). The seaweed cluster which started its activities in 2006 is one of the first 8 cluster initiatives. Up to now, the cluster has 3 groups in the villages of Bweleo, Kisakasaka, and Kidoti, all in Zanzibar and working in various aspects of seaweed farming. Seaweeds farmed in Zanzibar are mainly Eucheuma denticulatum and Kappaphycus alvarezii and to a smaller extent K. striatum. The groups have adopted a new method of farming seaweed –the deeper water floating lines method- as a way of combating Kappaphycus die-offs.

The direct use of the seaweeds in the country as a finished product has been a dream of scientists, the government, and other stakeholders. The Kidoti group which also produces spice soaps of cinnamon, clove, eucalyptus, sweet basal, and lemon grass, has recently made seaweed soap for the first time in Zanzibar. The farmers were helped by mainly the Small and Medium enterprises (SMEs) Competitiveness Facility (SCF). Other help came from Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH) and ISCP-Tz. The funds were used for training, acquisition of soap making machines, initial production of seaweed soap and initial market survey.

Acquisition of seaweed soap making machines

The machines acquired are: seaweed solar drier, seaweed grinder (disk mill), kettle with a stove and mixer for boiling and mixing the soap mixture, soap extruder for producing soap bars, and soap moulder for cutting soap bars into pieces. The machines were made at the College of Engineering and Technology (CoET) of the University of Dar es Salaam during May – December 2007. The machines were shipped to Kidoti on 29^th December and the training on the use of the machines was conducted between November 2007 and March 2008 when the first seaweed soap was made in Zanzibar. The soaps were placed in specially made seaweed soap packaging boxes which were designed by the cluster and printed by a commercial printing company. The first production was of 600 soap pieces.

Official launching of the technology transfer

The technology of producing seaweed soap was officially launched on 19^th February 2008 by the Chairman of the Board of SCF, Mr. Ibrahim Seushi and the SCF Manager, Mr. Sosthenes Sambua. The launching was witnessed by cluster members from Kidoti, Bweleo, and Kisakasaka, as well as the Kidoti village leadership.

Other products from seaweeds

The Zanzibar Seaweed Cluster has also made trial making of seaweed desserts (3 types) and is in the process of producing seaweed candies, biscuits, and soft drink. The cluster will also make liquid seaweed soap and shampoo.

For more information and purchase of seaweed soap contact:

Dr. Flower E. Msuya, Zanzibar Seaweed Cluster Facilitator at flowereze@yahoo.co, mmsuya@ims.udsm.ac.tz, or flowerem@hotmail.com.  OR

Phones: +255 786 629374, +255 777 490807, +255 777 220165

Tags: Add new tag

Pearl farming is a new initiative in Zanzibar which is barely 2 years old but already it has proven to be successful and has become a big attraction to researchers, entrepreneurs, politicians and communities both nationally and internationally. The pearl farming activity has shown that scientific research can be translated to ecologically and economically friendly projects. The pearl farming idea started in 2006 when an expert from the University of Hawaii USA, Dr Maria Haws visited Fumba under the SUCCESS project through WIOMSA and IMS and offered a training on pearl farming technique and jewelry making to community members of Fumba peninsula. Since its inception the project has gained a lot of recognition and many people visit the site to see for themselves the developments taking place. A total of 28 very good pearls were obtained. A number of these were sold fetching $3600 during the auction. The activity which also involved an exhibition of the products made by the women of Fumba peninsula, posters and videos was officially launched by the Minister of women and youth MS Asha Abdulla. The member of parliament Dr Mwinyihaji Makame and the Director of IMS, Prof Dubi were also present The main organizers of the function were from IMS (Dr N.S Jiddawi and Dr. Mmochi A assisted by Omar Amir, Salum Hamed, Saleh Yahya and Ngowo Redfred). Participants from WIOMSA were Dr M. Osore who gave a speech on behalf of the executive secretary of WIOMSA. Farhat Mbarouk and Semba M also assisted in the organization. The project is funded by SUCCESS through WIOMSA and facilitated by IMS.

As for the first time the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region establish and run its own Mariculture Network, with the aim of sharing experiences, challenges and strengths of mariculture activities within and outside the region for sustainable development of the industry. We are alarmed by the recent food riots in Haiti, Mexico, Uzbekistan, Venezuela to Senegal. Here is a challenge to consider: tonight - for just one night - go to bed without dinner; go to bed hungry. Continue Reading »

Community mariculture looks to be picking up well in Kenya in the last four years as a mangrove conservation strategy?  So what needs to given priority in terms of promoting it as a livelihood option and as a mangrove conservation strategy?

(a). Approach

(b). Scale of development

(c). Financial support

(d). Culture organisms to be included to the present ones (milkfish, mullets, mud crab, red snapper)

Mirera Oersted David: dimirera@yahoo.com

In trying to understand the state, approach and bottlenecks of community mariculture in Kenya and Tanzania’s Tanga region, a workshop was held at Kwetu training centre on 30th Nov. 2004. The report discusses the limitations of community mariculture in detail which formed a good background for kwetu’s community initiatives. In the same meeting Kwetu was proposed to house and run the Kenya Mariculture secretariete based on its approach to mariculture and the mangrove environment.

recent-experiences-in-community-mariculture-workshop-report-kenya-2004