Fish farming in Kenya with particular reference to the Lake Victoria basin. Paper read by the authors at the Seminar on The Management of integrated freshwater agro-piscicultural ecosystems in tropical areas (Brussels, 16-19 May 1994) organized by the Royal Academy of Overseas Sciences (Brussels), the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-Operation and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
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Date
1996
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Show full item recordAbstract
The total aquaculture production in Kenya in 1992 stood at 1,017 mt worth K.shs. 48,911,000 (about US$ one million). Of the total production, the trouts from the commercial aquaculture sector constituted 268 mt, the common carps, 282 mt and the tilapia, 67 mt. The per capita fish consumption in the country is below the recommended value of 9.3 kg/ind./yr. Its expected improvement is further worsened by the recent significant decline of fish catches from the major source, Lake Victoria (Kenya waters) of about 55,000 mt, and by the recent upward surge of the fish export trade, both of which have made fish a scarce and expensive commodity for the common man in the rural areas. Fish exports stand at 11,762 mt worth K.shs. 596,175,000. The fish exports are not as a result of surplus production (as the country also imports fish), but rather due to the lucrative fish trade in the foreign market. The current fish yields from aquaculture have stagnated at about 1,000 mt.yr. super(-1). The average number of fish ponds per farmer is 1.5. The mean size of the fish ponds is 281.16m super(2), while the mean depth is 0.78m, too shallow, thus limiting the yield. The mean yields per hectare are low at l,l30 kg.ha super(-1) and range from as low as 49.1 kg to 5,017.4 kg.ha super(-1) per growing season of 6-8 months. The authors' findings further indicate that a number of other factors are responsible for the low yields. These include understocking, poor choices of fish species for culture in the different agro-ecological zones, poor pond design, non provision of water regulation structures in the ponds such as monks, inlets, outlets and overflow pipes, poor knowledge on the application of organic and inorganic fertilizers and fish feed materials, poor extension services, lack of fishing gear and little financial support to the farmers. The development and adoption of a low external input aquaculture technology using farming systems research (FSR) is suggested.Pages
17pp.Publisher or University
Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research InstituteCollections