Tanzania is known worldwide for its serene safaris and roving wildlife game, but British scientists are developing an App that could save Tanzania´s critical Tilapia cichlid fish species. This could spur the country to double its fish output by 2025.
George Turner, professor at the School
of Biological Sciences, Bangor University, Britain, the innovator, says of
Tanzania´s Tilapia fish stock: “I have been studying cichlid fishes
for over 30 years. Their incredible speciation is worth protecting. With the Earlham
Institute we are developing a phone app to help fish farmers check the
authenticity of any fingerlings. It could help identify regions
particularly rich in pure species, where conservation measures could be put in
place.”
He says, “The App could also flag up regions with a high number of hybrids that pose a biosecurity risk.”
Tilapia, second only to carp as the world’s most frequently farmed fish, live in huge numbers in the Great Lakes (Victoria, Tanganyika, Malawi/Nyasa) that cover six percent of the country.
The lakes are
considered a global biodiversity hotspot – one of only 25 worldwide.
However, Tanzanians eat on average only
8kg of fish per year, less than half the international average of 17kg.
Around a third of children in Tanzania
under five are deficient in iron and vitamin A, contributing to stunting.
Fish provide more efficient
nutrients than other sources of animal protein in Tanzania.
Tilapia is attractive because they can
be reared on inexpensive vegetable matter and agricultural waste.
Tilapia farming in Tanzania is mostly
for subsistence or for small-scale markets. Around half of the world’s tilapia
species are native to Tanzania.
To develop an aquaculture strategy for
Tanzania, 30 scientists representing Tanzanian stakeholders as well
as international research organisations met for a three-day workshop on
Tanzania´s holiday island of Zanzibar.
The main outcome of this workshop
was a new consortium between the partners, committed to establishing the
country´s National Aquaculture Development Centre (NADC).
The NADC could help triple the
contribution that aquaculture makes to the economy, double the production of
fish in the country by 2025 and improve access to fish as
a protein source - especially for women.
Tilapia species from a broad range of
ecosystems - including lakes, river systems, reservoirs and fish ponds across
the country - will form the focus of the research.
Genetic analysis
of 31 species, including 26 that are found nowhere else on the
planet, could reveal important traits for creating the country’s own
commercial bloodstock.
Using native species could
also help secure the Tanzania´s biodiversity. For example, it eliminates the
risk of non-native strains escaping and hybridising with wild species.
Charles Mahika, Tanzania´s Director of
the Aquaculture, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and
Fisheries (MALF), says: “We have a chance to increase our country’s
share in aquaculture’s blue revolution, an industry growing faster than any
other food-production sector in the world. We aim to triple the contribution of
aquaculture to GDP from 1.4% to 4.2% by 2025.”
Federica Di Palma, Director of
Science, Earlham Institute (EI), says: “By sharing the results
of genetic analysis and helping to build expertise, we can make a real
contribution to helping to grow a national industry."
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