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| An employee feeds fish in cages. Caging is one of the methods that is increasingly being adopted. PHOTO BY EDMOND TAREMWA |
Fish farming in Uganda is a viable business enterprise that continues to attract investment, both large- and small-scale, as it develops.
The advantages likely to be enjoyed by an individual farmer or business in Uganda are adequate water, good soils, a ready market, availability of feeds and skilled labour.
There are a variety of methods by which fish can be farmed. Some of these are caging, ponds, and tanks, among others.
Allen Kusasira, research development and extension manager of Source of the Nile Farm (SON), believes fish caging is the way to go in today’s tight business environment.
SON is located in Bugungu, Buikwe District along the shores of Lake Victoria. It has been in operation since 2006, has 89 employees, and farms fish in both cages and ponds.
Simple to operate
Though she acknowledges it is highly capital intensive, Kusasira also cites the advantages. “We operate at higher costs compared to other businesses since most items we use in our work are imported,” she says.
“Our business is a very simple one to operate as long as you do not put off any activity while at work. We hardly find any challenges, I must say, except as usual, the environmental factors that affect our work.
“Fish here reared both in ponds and lake water where over 30 grids have been constructed with each grid bearing over 10 cages,” says Hassan Muganda, one of the workers.
“The cages are in different sizes; the smaller ones contain around 2,800 fish each, and the bigger size contain around 18,000 fish.”
Kusasira explains, “Our biggest problem is water. For the ponds, the water has got to retain its natural colour, failure of which the fish will suffocate.
When the water in the ponds turns green, it fails the circulation of oxygen in the water, which can make the fish suffocate. Also, there is a problem of bad weather. Whenever there is drought, water tends to dry up and this limits productivity, ” she says.
Breeding
The initial stage involves carrying fish from the lake to ponds for breeding, which takes 21 days. The recommended ratio of male to female is 1:2, usually around 300:600 fish.
After breeding, adult fish is transferred to another pond as a way of separating them from the young ones (pictured).
With the above ratio, there would be a projection of 20,000 young fish after breeding, which are then transferred to the hapa (a cage made with nets) in which they are confined during that stage.
Feeding
“Feeding is the most technical part of this business because fish is fed according to its stage,” explains Hassan Muganda, “At the youngest stage, fish are fed on fry meal, a 45 per cent protein food. This is treated with a sexing hormone responsible for making them all female (which is the desired sex).
The second stage is fingerlings which feed on the same food. Juveniles, the third stage, are fed on the same but with 35 per cent protein content.
The last stage is table size or production stage and the protein content is 25 to 30 per cent. The other foods include crude protein, fat, ash and moisture.
With advance in technology, there are more efficient feeding methods, most noticeable is the demand feeder, a can-like machine placed in the middle of the cage or pond with a pendulum that the fish keep on striking as feed is cast in the water. There is also an automatic feeder, which is used for juveniles.
Business
Kusasira is a bit hesistant to speak about business. But she later reveals that they strictly invest in fish and have never diversified business despite the competition faced from lake fish because of the smaller fish size produced on the farm.
“In five years,” she anticipates, “We look forward to increasing our productivity, processing our own produce and capturing bigger markets.”
The market
Fish in this system is to a large extent sold within Uganda and is never processed. “We have not sold processed fish, apart from merely slicing it, and this reduces our operational costs.
What makes this business possible is that as you start it, you get your permanent customers to always buy your deliveries. We sell most of our fish in the local market and some to Rwanda and Kenya,” says Kusasira.
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