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Ashton Mutyavaviri
HARVESTING of fish produced under the Presidential community fisheries schemes is set to begin soon in a development expected to boost food security in the face of food shortages caused by the prevailing drought.
Fisheries and Aquaculture Resource Department (FARD) deputy director Mrs Lillian Nyashanu said Government was expecting fish harvesting to start at all fish ponds stocked from last year with fish projected to have reached their growth.
Fish are harvested after six months with each fish projected to weigh between 400 and 800 grammes.
Government’s decision to stock fish ponds across the country is part of a broader strategy to diversify agricultural activities and reduce reliance on traditional crops. By promoting fish farming, Zimbabwe aims to tap into the potential of aquaculture as a sustainable source of protein and income generation for rural communities.
The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organisation have been providing technical support and training to fish farmers to ensure the success of this initiative.
With the successful implementation of the aquaculture programme, the country has a significant boost in income generation and improving food and nutrition security.
Mrs Nyashanu further highlighted that Government was working to promote effective fisheries production through adopting enabling policies, which include borehole drilling in each village and school. It is targeting to drill 35 000 boreholes countrywide.
Each borehole will have a fish pond to allow fish production and improve the nutritional status of citizens, said the deputy director.
In the 2022/23 season the number of established fishponds was 8 779, marking an increase of more than 20 percent from 6 998 in the 2021/22 term.
There was also a corresponding increase in the area covered by fish ponds from 154, 9ha in the 2021/22 season to 175, 58 for the 2022/23 season. The country is now on course to produce 4 213, 92 tonnes of fish, thanks to this capacity by the end of the 2023/24 aquaculture reporting year.
The most farmed fish species are breams (91 percent), followed by trout (7 percent) and catfish at (2 percent).
Most breeders are producing breams because they easily propagate in stagnant water and are a highly prolific breed that is well-adapted to local diseases and pests and has a good feed conversion efficiency.
Breams easily tolerate fluctuations in environmental conditions, for example, low oxygen levels dissolved in water, high salinity, high turbidity and a wide range of water temperature variations.
Government is also targeting to stock a minimum of 100 dams this year, with Mrs Nyashanu adding that 56 dams had so far been stocked this year.
She urged communities around stocked dams to form committees that enforce sustainable fish farming and harvesting practices and ensure there is no fish poaching.
Online Reporter