The rearing of the African catfish in Africa started in the early seventies in Central and Western Africa as it was realized that it was a very suitable species for aquaculture as:
It grows fast and feeds on a large variety of agriculture by products.
It is hardy and can tolerate adverse water quality conditions.
It can be raised in high densities resulting in high net yields (6–16 t/ha/year).
In most countries it fetch a higher price as tilapia's as it can be sold live at the market.
It matures and is relatively easy to reproduce in captivity.
The last twenty years considerable experience in reproduction, nursing and on growing has been obtained, especially through the FAO projects in the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) and Cameroon and through the CTFT projects in Ivory Coast and they can be summarized as follows;
Large numbers of hatchlings/fingerlings can be easily produced in “high tech” hatcheries where the nauplii of Artemia salina and composed feeds are used for feed. However this kind of hatchery proofed to be not sustainable as it did not match with the socio-economic conditions of most African countries (experience from the Central African Republic).
Large numbers of hatchlings/fingerlings can be produced with a backyard type hatchery combined with the nursing of fry in earthen ponds (investments not exceeding 1000 US$ for a unit of 50.000 fingerlings per year). Successful managing these kind of systems is not easy1 and requires “skilled” fish farmers. However it proofed to be sustainable once sufficient attention is given to the training of the technicians/farmers. This means not only to learn them the “tricks of the trade” but also let them understand why the “tricks of the trade” are of importance in the biological/fish farming processes. The major point of attention in the nursing phase are;
(experience of Congo-Brazzaville).
In the poly culture with Nile Tilapia, the African catfish is a “lazy” predator" as it prefers to feed on the food distributed. They can eliminate the offspring of Nile Tilapia if they are stocked in high densities (10.000 fingerlings/ha). Production rates of 7–8 t/ha/yr can be obtained with low grade feed (rice bran). A further advantage of poly culture is that growth rates of the Nile Tilapia increases considerably. (experience Congo-Brazzaville)
A prerequisite for the mono culture of the African catfish is the availability of high quality fish feed (with fish meal as an animal protein source). Once this is available, the monoculture can be highly profitable as production of 8–16 t/ha/yr can be obtained. (experience from the central African Republic)
All these experiences are taken into consideration when the actual status of African catfish farming in the project area is assessed and when recommendation for future developments are given.
