River-based artificial propagation of the African catfish Clarias gariepinus: an option for the small fish farmer

A cheap method of propagating the African catfish, Clarias gariepinus, by incubating the fertilized eggs in a cage placed directly in a flowing river is described. Hatching ranged between 39 and 70%. This is not significantly different from the commonly used water recirculating flow through system. The economic advantages of the river hatching method are discussed with special emphasis on the rural fish farmers.

Breeding and propagation of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) in a floating hatchery, Gabon

Based on the encouraging results obtained by earlier workers, the concept for a floating hatchery was developed for producing tilapia for both farming and enhanced fisheries in the freshwater lakes and coastal lagoons of Gabon. The research and development work to test this concept was undertaken with Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). Two places in Gabon were selected, representing climatic and environmental condition similar to other parts of the country. The study aims to improve fish production in the freshwater lakes of the Lambarene area, and in the numerous coastal lagoons of Gabon, to compensate for the current overexploitation of natural stocks, or the alternative of introducing other species, and to reduce the drift of fishing population away from lakes.