The establishment of a commercial fishery for Haplochromis in the Uganda waters of Lake Victoria

Lake Victoria, straddling the Equator, is the second largest lake in the world, with a surface area of approximately 26,000 square miles (41,500 square kilometers) and a maximum depth of about 300 feet. Uganda possesses most of the north end of the lake which consists of a long, indented coastline and a chain of offshore islands on the edge of a 'continental shelf' separating relatively shallow sheltered inshore waters from the deeper open waters of the lake. At the present time the lake is harvested mainly by a native gill net fishery confined almost entirely to the shallow sheltered inshore waters. The annual production of all species from Uganda waters is in the region of 24,000 tons per annum, and Tilapia(Cichlidae)is commercially the most important genus. Haplochromis, a close relative of Tilapia, but generally much smaller, contributes only a small amount to this annual production; see Table 1, although they are probably the most abundant group of fish present in the lake. Through international aid programmes Uganda has been offered a canning plant and it is thought that Haplochromis is the most suitable type of fish to be utilized by such a plant. The Uganda Fisheries Department are conducting research into processing techniques and marketing and the East African Freshwater Fisheries Research Organization was asked to conduct a survey of the Haplochromis stocks of the lake with a view to estimating the ability or otherwise of these stocks to support a commercial canning industry.

Establishment of satellite nucleus of genetically improved farmed tilapia (GIFT strain) in Bangladesh

The aim of this study was to evaluate growth performance of the GIFT (Genetically Improved Farmed Tilapia) strain after one generation of selection for increased body weight at Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute. Founder stock comprised of 30 families having 300 individuals of the GIFT strain were introduced from Malaysia through \X!orldFish Center in March 2005. The founder stock was reared in 100 m2 hapa for three months and then individually tagged using Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) at the weight between 30 and 40 g. After tagging, all the fish were communally grown out in pond until harvest. Breeding value for body weight was estimated using SAS and ASREML ranging from 4.17 to 9.70 g for males and 4.24 to 9.36 g for females. The best 40 females and 40 males from the founder stock were then selected to produce progeny of the first generation (F-1). From each family 25 female and 25 male fingerlings were sampled and tagged using PIT. A total of 2,000 tagged fish from 40 families were stocked in a pond (1000 m2) for a continuation of the selection program. In addition, surplus fish after tagging were also reared together with progeny of the founder stock in cistern ecology for growth evaluation. The mean weight of the F-1 generation of GIFT fish was 7.2% greater than that of the founder population (non selected population).

Investment in fish seed multiplication farms in Bangladesh: Evidences of an attractive business

This study mainly evaluated the profitability of Fish Seed Multiplication Farms (FSMFs) having hatchery, nursery and hatchery-cum-nursery located in the districts of Jessore, Jhenidah and Narail in Bangladesh. The general findings of the study were that the investment in FSMFs with hatchery, nursery and hatchery-cum-nursery was highly profitable business. The results clearly indicated that the investment on hatchery was the most profitable than those of nursery and hatchery-cum-nursery operations from the viewpoints of individual investors. The results of sensitivity analysis suggested that the investment in nursery farm was a risky business with 20 per cent increase in operation and management as well was production costs or 20 per cent reduction in benefits if other things remaining the same. It was also evident from the study that the investors of FSMFs had currently been facing some crucial problems, which among others are: problems of inbreeding, shortage of brood fish, incidence of diseases, unavailability of certain inputs and lack of credit.