Haiti occupies one-third (about 27 560 km2) of the western part of the island of Hispaniola which is located between Puerto Rico and Cuba; the eastern two-thirds is occupied by the Dominican Republic. Hispaniola is the second largest Caribbean island and the most mountainous, about 75 percent is rough mountainous terrain. Many mountains exceed 2 000 m and the highest, Pico Duarta in the Dominican Republic, is 3 100 m. Because of the rough terrain the road network is poor and travel is time-consuming. Large stretches of the coast are inaccessible by road.
The mountains which separate Haiti and the Dominican Republic prevent the moist trade winds from reaching Haiti. Most of the country is semi-arid. About 33 percent is cultivated (Alderighi, 1979). Vegetation has been cleared from most of the mountains with the result that Haiti is now the most eroded country in the West Indies. Forty percent of its total arable area has been either ruined or severely affected (Macpherson, 1979). The lowlands are relatively small and isolated areas, where irrigation is extensively practised.
There are many short rivers with steep gradients flowing from the mountains to the sea. Most are small and a great number dry up in the dry season. There is one large river, the Artibonite, which flows into the Gulf of Gonave. The total area of lakes and lagoons is approximately 23 000 ha of which two are large lakes, Etang Saumâtre (or Lake Azuey) which is a natural lake of about 16 000 ha, and Lake Peligre, a reservoir of 3 200 ha created in 1956–57 by construction of a hydro-electric dam across the Artibonite river. L'Etang Saumâtre has no surface outlet and is fed by springs arising from calcareous rocks. The western part of the lake is slightly saline but the water in the eastern part is fresh.
According to Lin (1952), the natural stock of Lake Azuey consisted mainly of small Poeciliidae (Gambusia dominicensis Regan, Limia melanonotata Nich, and May, L. nigrofasciata Reg.) and one slowly growing Cichlidae (Cichlosoma haitiensis). In 1954 l'Etang Saumâtre was stocked with 17 000 mirror carp fingerlings and 50 000 Tilapia mossambica fingerlings (Lovell and Moss, 1971), but according to Lin and Tal (1956), the number of T. mossambica fingerlings released in the lake at the end of 1954 was 6 000. Almost nothing is known about the productivity of the lake and the actual catches are very low. Fishing methods are quite primitive and there are almost no boats and very few nets.
Lake Peligre was drained in 1969–70 for the installation of a hydroelectric generator. It was refilled in 1971–72 and stocked in 1973 with carp and T. mossambica (Smitherman, 1973). No information is available concerning the natural productivity of this lake or the actual production.
Haiti has many small bays and inlets along its coast, some of which are extremely well protected. There are some 17 000 ha of mangrove forest, of which about half is in ‘Departement de Artibonite’ and 20 percent is in ‘Departement du Nord’ (FAO, 1978a).
As mentioned earlier, because Haiti lies on the leeward side of the island, it gets relatively little rain. The Arbre and Cul de Sac Plains, for example, receive only 50 to 75 cm of annual rainfall. The heaviest rains fall from May to October in this region, with a dry season from December to April. On the north coast the main rainy periods are September to January and March to June. However, some rain falls every month.
Average maximum temperatures in the north are 33.3°C in the summer and 28.3°C during winter. The corresponding average minimum temperatures are 22.2°C and 18.3°C.
With an area of 27 750 km2 and 5.5 million inhabitants (1978), Haiti is a very densely populated country. There are serious constraints concerning land since the average population density of 200/km2, is amongst the highest in the world. With annual population growth at 2.4 percent (FAO, 1980), this situation will become worse in future years.
Agriculture is in the hands of small holders; only 5 percent of holdings are larger than 5 ha. Crops are produced primarily for family subsistance and, consequently, the used cash is not widespread and living standards are low. Gross National Income per caput was recently estimated at U.S.$ 2601 per year (World Bank, 1980). Distribution of income is uneven.
Generally speaking, there is a severe shortage of animal protein in the population's diet, especially in the rural areas. The regular sources of animal protein are animal husbandry (poultry, goats, sheep, pigs and cattle), dairy products, fish (from marine fisheries, inland waters or from aquaculture) and imports.
The Mission came across only one thorough historical study of availability of fish and other animal proteins in Haiti. It was produced by SCET International of France in 1977 (France, 1977). Relevant tables from that report have been translated and reproduced in Annex 5. A study of those tables shows that in 1976:
1 U.S.$ 1.00 = Haitian Gourdes 5
the per caput consumption of meat was 13.77 kg/year and 26.39 kg for dairy products; the latter figure is relatively high compared to those calculated for other tropical countries;
the per caput fish consumption was very low: 1.18 kg/year for seafood; only 0.06 kg for fresh water fish; 0.36 kg of imported fish and fishery products; that is to say, the overall consumption of available fish products (8 292 t in 1976) was about 1.6 kg/year;
imports of fish and fishery products have been decreasing since 1970, as shown in Table 5 of Annex 6. Salted fish (mostly herring and cod) were 58 percent of the imports in 1956 and 1977, and smoked fish (mostly herrings) 42 percent in 1956 and 37 percent in 1976.
According to Mongodin (1977), there are enough agro-industrial by-products (see Annex 6 for detailed information) in Haiti to support an expansion of cattle production (meat and milk) and, to a lesser extent, of pig production. However, it will be very difficult, for several reasons (lack of adequate and sufficient pasture land, high investments, etc.), to improve the meat production in the country and to meet the minimum needs of the population.
In this situation it appears logical that fish production be given high priority, with the aim of relieving the scarcity of animal protein that now is prevalent in the population's diet while avoiding the need for increased imports.
Fishing in Haiti is characterized by non-commercial subsistence scale activities, mostly for personal consumption or local sale.
The marine fishery is primarily for reef fish such as snapper. There are some 3 000 full-time and 5 000 part-time fishermen. They fish in inshore waters using mostly unmechanized small wooden boats and dug-out canoes. Typical gears used are hand lines, cast nets and beach seines. The spiny lobster fishery uses pots. Demersal resources of the narrow shelf area are heavily exploited and a restriction has been placed on the taking of lobsters. There is a possibility that the marine catch could be increased through greater utilization of migratory pelagic species, but no assessment of the potential has yet been made, and this type of fishing is beyond the capabilities of present fishing craft.
The total marine catch in 1976 was estimated at 7 650 tons comprising 7 130 t of fish, 500 t of spiny lobster (mainly Panulirus argus), 10 t of shrimp (mainly Penaeus brasiliensis) and 10 t of conch (Strombus gigas) (France, 1977).
Data concerning distribution, sales and consumption of fish are not systematically collected in Haiti. The information given below is derived from observations made by the Mission and information received from local observers.
The Mission visited about twelve markets, some wholesale/retail ones at the seashore and some weekly ones at country fairs. The following are the main observations:
In all markets the quantity of fish on display is small; even in the rural fairs it did not surpass 100 kg in any one market.
With the exception of landing centres, cured fish dominate. In some internal markets it was as high as four-fifths of the total on display.
The majority of the cured product imported is salted or smoked herring.
Unit sales are very small. The imported wet-cured product is sold in cuts, one cut usually weighing less than 10 g.
Prices for imported cured fish were observed to range from U.S.$ 2 to U.S.$ 4 per kg (equivalent): prices for canned sardines are U.S.$ 1.20 for 400g; local Macrobrachium (raw or cooked) U.S.$ 2.50 per kg (equivalent). Prices for (almost) fresh Tilapia mossambica were recorded to be about U.S.$ 0.40 per kg. See table 3.
Thus, most fish sold in inland markets seemed to be bought for use as condiment and at a high price in relation to average incomes. Consumption of fish as a main dish would seem to be limited to relatively well-off sections of the population living in urban areas, and to some of the coastal communities (for the less attractive species). This is probably a matter of deficient supply more than lack of demand.
Table 3
Haiti - Retail price of fishery products at the Limbé Market (23 June 1980)
| Item | Unit | Price Equivalent of | |
| Gourde per kg | U.S.$ per kg | ||
| Smoked herring | Slice | 14.30 | 2.86 |
| Salted herring | Slice | 9.50 | 1.90 |
| Smoked herring | Whole | 22.30 | 4.46 |
| Salted herring | Whole | 16.50 | 3.30 |
| Marine salted (locally produced) | Whole | 1.80 | 4.36 |
| Canned mackerel (imported) | Can | 6.30 | 1.26 |
| Canned mackerel | Can | 5.90 | 1.18 |
| Macrobrachium (fresh) | Piece | 10.00 | 2.00 |
| Macrobrachium (cooked without claws) | Piece | 12.50 | 2.50 |
Fish culture was introduced in Haiti in 1950–54 by the FAO Technical Assistance Project ‘Development of Fish Farming in Haiti’. For the first two years work was concentrated on the construction of nursery and experimental ponds at the Damien Fish Culture Station and at Mariani.
Tilapia mossambica was introduced from Jamaica in 1951 and in the same year common carp fingerlings came from Alabama, U.S.A. (Lin, 1952). In 1952, fingerlings of Trichogaster pectoralis were introduced from Singapore and common carp from Israel (FAO, 1956).
Fry production of common carp and T. mossambica started at the end of 1951 and fingerlings of these two species were stocked in rivers, lakes and irrigation canals where they reproduced naturally. Trichogaster pectoralis disappeared from the Damien station around 1955.
Extension work was initiated in 1952. Farmers received assistance in building small ponds and were supplied with fingerlings. According to FAO (1956), 46 ponds with a total area of about 5 ha were constructed by the end of 1954.
During the implementation of the project two fellowships on fish culture were provided by FAO, enabling Haitians to study modern commercial fish farming abroad.
According to FAO (1956) and Lin (1952), yields between 2 300 kg and 2 600 kg of fish were obtained per ha/year in ponds at Mariani and at the Damien Fish Culture Station.
At the end of the project (1954), the Fisheries Service took charge of the implementation of the programme.
In 1958, the Fisheries Service was created by law, and made responsible for marine and freshwater fisheries. The Service concentrated mainly on freshwater fisheries and fish farming.
A programme of production of fingerlings of common carp and T. mossambica was carried out at the Damien Fish Culture Station during the period 1958–65. During these years the total fingerling production, according to the Fisheries Service, was 1.5 million of which 754 000 were common carp and 799 000 were T. mossambica. The average annual production was 108 000 carps/year and 114 000 T. mossambica per year. From 1966 to 1977 production declined and only 616 500 fingerlings were produced. The average production was 37 000 carp fingerlings and only 14 000 T. mossambica fingerlings per year. The emphasis has clearly been on carp fingerling production.
A stocking rate for common carp and T. mossambica, used by the Fisheries Service, is one fingerling per 2 m2 (= 50 fingerlings/are or 5 000/ha). The actual fingerling production of the Damien Fish Culture Station (about 51 000 fingerlings/year) is thus less than needed to stock 10 ha of fish ponds.
For supply of carp fingerlings farmers are now completely dependent upon the Fisheries Service which has neither vehicles nor funds for transporting fingerlings to the distribution centres. The distribution of fingerlings is now restricted to the area around the Damien Fish Culture Station and is carried out by individual farmers using public transport.
The practice of stocking only common carp in the rural ponds is not the best method to improve fish farming since the common carp does not reproduce well and regularly in small ponds without special management. If tilapia had been used for stocking the situation might have been different. Tilapia reproduce in ponds and farmers could use their own fingerlings for re-stocking their ponds, if they were given adequate help in pond management.
According to Randolph (1978), 5 207 ponds were constructed during the years 1958–77. A lack of adequate management and a lack of trained personnel in the Fisheries Service resulted in fish farming coming more or less to a standstill in 1965–6.
The Fisheries Service estimates that in 1980 about 500 ponds remained in production in the country. No census of existing ponds is available. According to Mr. A. Garnier, Chief of the Fisheries Service, rural fish culture based on common carp is still going on, but the extent of this activity could not be verified by the Mission.
The Mission visited fish farmers at Leogane, the only area in the southern peninsula where private ponds are still in operation.
The following are the main observations of the Mission after visiting five homestead ponds and discussions with their owners/managers:
The surface of the ponds, constructed by manual labour, is between 28 and 112 m2. Only one pond (1 080 m2) was constructed with the help of a tractor, utilizing a mechanical shovel. The construction by contract of this pond took one month. A 112 m2 pond was constructed in 1978 by hand labour and took 3 men one week or 18 man-days. At a salary of U.S.$ 1.00/day, the cost of construction could have been U.S.$ 18 for 112 m2, or U.S.$ 16/are.
All the ponds visited were fed by irrigation channels and water supply was stated not to be a problem.
All 5 ponds were said to be used for carp culture and nobody stocked tilapia. Reported stocking densities are between 1 and 7 carp fingerlings per m2. The size of fingerlings is between 3 and 5 cm.
Ponds are seldom fertilized and farmers do not know the use of compost.
Carps are fed with wheat bran, bread fruits, ground maize (U.S.$ 1.20 for 5 lbs, or U.S.$ 0.53/kg), rice bran and sweet potatoes.
No information on quantities of fish harvested from the ponds could be obtained.
Present fertilization of the ponds and construction of new ones is held up because of the lack of fingerlings. Three of the five ponds visited were filled with water but did not contain any fish.
It would seem that the very limited rural fish culture now practised produces fish primarily for home consumption, not for sale. No doubt sometimes fish is sold, or exchanged for goods or services, but this is not the rule.
All freshwater fisheries research is carried out at the Damien Fish Culture Station which has 19 ponds covering a total area of 2.8 ha. The stocks of fish included specimenns of common carp T. mossambica and local species of the freshwater prawn Macrobrachium.
Staff complement is: one Chief of Station, one agronomist, one hydro-biologist, one fisheries agent, one foreman, and five labourers.
Because of the limited budget staff are few and technically unqualified, and maintenance of the station is poor. Little research has been done and it has apparently been difficult to maintain the programme of fingerling production.
The 1980/81 budget for the entire Fisheries Service was said to be the equivalent of U.S.$ 150 000, most of which is absorbed by salaries.
The ponds are supplied by gravitation from an irrigation canal which supplies water to lower lying plantations; apparently at times the fish farm gets less water than it needs. At the time of the Mission's visit to the station the irrigation canal contained plenty of water but only nine of the station's nineteen ponds were filled. All 19 ponds might be used all the year round if a pump were provided, costing a few thousand dollars, to extract water from an existing well. It would be possible to place the station in good working order for a reasonable expenditure.
An abandoned fish culture station exists at Deseaux, near Bois Dehors, on the Artibonite plain. The station has 8 ponds with a total water area of 3.2 ha. The dikes and monks still stand. The station receives water from the local irrigation system. The station has not been used for fish culture for some years; at the time of the Mission's visit rice was cultured in 6 of the ponds, the other 2 were serving as pasture to rehabilitate the farm. Both dikes and monks would need to be repaired and pond bottoms levelled. These are labour intensive activities and it should be possible to make the ponds suitable for fish culture with a modest expenditure.
The Fisheries Service intends to give high priority to revival of fish culture in the Artibonite plain. The fish culture station at Deseaux would be an ideal location for production of fingerlings. It would also serve as a centre for demonstration of viable fish culture practices. The centre would cooperate closely with the ODVA (Offices de Développement de la Vallée de l'Artibonite).
Freshwater prawns of the genus Macrobrachium are abundant in some rivers. They are brought into the ponds in the Damien Fish Culture Station by the irrigation canal. According to Lin (1952), the species in Haiti are Macrobrachium carcinus and M. acanthurus.
The Member for Parliament (Deputé) of Thomazeau, who represents the ‘Conseil d'Action Communautaire’ formed by the communities around l'Etang Saumâtre, has an ambitious plan to introduce cage culture in the lake. It would involve a total of 360 people (12 groups each of 30 members). Production is projected to be about 450 kg of fish/day from 25 cages, each of 12 m3. The cages would be constructed of bamboo and covered with netting. Estimated project cost is U.S.$ 32 900. It has been presented to TEXACO with a request for financing.
In northern Haiti the Mission visited the sites of two enterprises intended to farm fish commercially: one close to Limonade and the second at Fort Liberté.
The enterprise at Limonade was started at the beginning of 1971. It is located about 1 kilometre northeast of the main road (Cap Haïtien - Port Liberté) and consists of 25 ponds covering a total surface of 5.9 ha. Eleven of the ponds have an area of 270 m2 and are used as nursery ponds, the remaining 14 each measure 0.4 ha. The fish culture unit is part of a larger farm producing maize and tobacco.
Water is obtained by pumping from a nearby well. The pump (250 gallons/min) feeds the water into pipes (galvanized) of 5 to 6 in diameter, through which it is brought to the ponds. Drainage is also achieved by pumping.
The manager of the farm, Mr. Willies Starley, gave the Mission the following information:
The ponds are stocked with Tilapia nilotica, the brood stock having been imported from Florida and Alabama (at one time the farm had also Chinese grass carp). Breeders are stocked at the ratio of 10 males to 50 females in the nursery ponds. Fingerlings are harvested at 12 to 14 cm and placed in the grow-out ponds. They are reared until they are about 18 cm (which takes about 3 months).
They are then sexed by hand. Females are removed from the ponds, and the males are placed in the grow-out ponds at a stocking rate of about 2/m2. They are harvested about 11 months later at a weight of 450 g.
The ponds are fertilized with phosphate (dosage not known). The fish are fed with a mixture of ground maize, cotton seed cake, broken rice, ground coffee fibre, and potato tops, at a ration of 4 percent of body weight 5 times a day. The Mission understood that the farm manger supplies these ingredients mostly according to their availability and not according to their nutritional value.
The farm has not done well in attempts to sell the tilapia. It has been offered for sale in nearby villages gutted and iced, for the equivalent of U.S.$ 1.50/kg, but little has been sold. This may be for the simple reason that gutted and iced large tilapia is a high-priced product with which the villagers are completely unfamiliar. Fish can be sold to restaurants in the larger towns (Cap Haïtien and Port-au-Prince) but experience is that it is difficult to obtain payment.
Mr. Starley has plans to expand the pond area to a total of 20 ha, not because he is content with the commercial aspects of the operation but because he is going to excavate nearby land in order to recover the clay for sale.
It seems to the Mission that the first thing to do in order to improve the commercial results of the farm at Limonade is to sell the fish at less than 200 g, which is an acceptable size in today's markets in rural Haiti. It also seems likely that the cost of feed would be reduced, and growth enhanced, if a nutritionally more balanced feed was consistently supplied. Feeding once a day should be sufficient. Lastly, if possible, the ponds now under construction should be drained.
The farm at Fort Liberté is financed by the Belgian Technical Assistance (Administration Générale de la Coopération au Développement, AGCD). The project manager is the vicar of the Catholic Mission who is also a member of the Conseil Communautaire of Fort Liberté, which has made 100 ha of land available to construct a 10 ha fish farm. PROTOS, a Belgian non profit making group for technical cooperation for development, is impelementing this 3-year project with one biologist, under the supervision of the Conseil Communautaire of Fort Liberte.
The aims of this project are: (a) to make the population aware of the advantages of fish culture and the incorporation of fish into their diet; (b) to train fish farmers and counterpart staff to be able to take over the project; (c) to build a demonstration centre for fish farming; and (d) to produce and distribute fingerlings to fish farmers.
The farm is situated adjacent to a large bay on what was formerly tidal land; brackish water enters the ponds closest to the bay. At the time of the Mission's visit there was a total of 26 ponds covering a water surface of about 1.9 ha. The project aims to have, eventually, over 60 ponds. Construction is carried out manually (indicating a rate of excavation of close to 2 m3/man/day). Payment is in part by food supplied by CARE. The ponds are supplied with water by gravity from a nearby river.
T. mossambica was taken from the nearby river and introduced into the ponds. They are fed, early in the morning, with a mixture of: rice bran, peels from manioc, ground coffee fibre, leaves from sugar cane, peanut husks. Bird guano is collected locally and introduced into the ponds.
The Manager of the farm, Mr. Marc Verdegem, has carried out feeding trials in a few ponds. Observations from these ponds for the period May-June 1980 show that in spite of high feeding rates (20–30 percent of body weight), growth has been slow, 0.44 g to 1 g per fish per day. The trials lasted only one month and results are not conclusive. Mr. Verdegem is considering the introduction of T. nilotica from the farm at Limonade.
Since late 1979 some 800 kg of T. mossambica have been sold. There is a local preference for 200 g fish rather than 100 g fish; the former selling at close to U.S.$ 0.90/kg (equivalent) while the fish of 90 kg size would sell for about half that price.
At Limbé, the Mission had discussions with the experts of the FAO project ‘Protection et Aménagement du Bassin Montagneux du Limbé’ and with Mr. Turkoz, Chief Technical Adviser of the project ‘Centre de Formation en Aménagement des Bassins Versants’. The people in charge of these projects hope to introduce fish farming in response to inquiries made by the local farmers.
Agricultural and agro-industrial waste products suitable as feed and/or fertilizer (compost) in monoculture of T. nilotica and in polyculture of T. nilotica with carps, are available in Haiti (see Annex 5), but the information requires review: some of the products listed in the Annex are already used in animal husbandry (pig and cattle raising) and their geographical distribution is not clear.
There is no ongoing commercial or subsistence mariculture in Haiti. At Fort Liberté a Catholic Mission is sponsoring an oyster culture project. It is supported by the same bilateral Belgian organization that is developing pond culture of T. mossambica also at Fort Liberté. A biologist is attempting hanging culture, starting with imported Crassostrea gigas. The oysters have not done well and most have died; trials with a local oyster, Crassostrea luca, have not been successful either. The main causes are believed to be the wide fluctuations in salinity caused by runoff after heavy rains, and attacks by boring sponges.
Haiti is the only country visited by the Mission where the local population consume oysters. They are eaten boiled either as a main dish or as an ingredient in other preparations. The Mission saw oysters in the markets at Aquin, on the south coast, Gonave and Les Cayes. The oysters observed at Aquin were mangrove oysters; the biggest specimen seen measured 1.5 cm in diameter after being preserved in lime juice. A can of oyster meat weighing 2.3 kg sold for U.S.$ 4.00.
Seaweeds are not consumed in Haiti and little is known about their occurrence.
A former fishery officer is attempting to promote culture of spiny lobster at Petit Paradis, on the southern coast of the North-Western peninsula, where there is a sizeable lagoon with a narrow mouth (2 m wide and 8 m deep). The proposal, as outlined to the Mission, would involve:
screening the mouth of the lagoon, and
keeping berried females in pots until they spawn, expecting that the larvae will remain in the lagoon.
As the spiny lobster has a long larval life and predators most likely cannot be prevented from entering the lagoon, the Mission is not optimistic about the results of the proposed culture.
Haiti has a long coastline with varied configurations. Many of the bays are surrounded by steep hills. These bays offer excellent protection from tropical storms for such installations as floating net cages. Fin fish, for culture in cages, could be collected from the numerous reefs. At Gonave the Mission saw many small groupers in the market; their size was ideal for stocking in cages and subsequent rearing. It seems likely that also brood stock and fry, if desired, could be collected from the reefs. Trash fish for feed, and alternative feeds, seem however to be scarce.
Aquaculture, both in freshwater and in brackish-marine waters, is feasible in Haiti. The main constraint to its development is the scarcity of people with adequate training and experience. It is evident that for quite a number of years the junior staff of the Fisheries Department have not had the possibility of receiving appropriate training. Those persons in Government who could give impetus to development of aquaculture know neither what the possibilities are, nor how to proceed effectively in order to revive rural fresh water fish culture. In fact, the Fisheries Service is not able to demonstrate any successful fish culture at the Damien Fish Culture Station.
The first priority for the Government should be to train its existing staff: extension workers, fish farm managers and senior (departmental) aquaculture technicians. Training of extension workers and fish farm managers is best done in Haiti and would require the participation of expatriate experts, through a technical assistance project. A draft project document for such a project is attached as Annex 7. Suitable training for senior aquaculturist technicians is given in French and English at the FAO/UNDP Regional Aquaculture Training Centre at Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and in Spanish at the Regional Aquaculture Training Centre in Pirassununga, Brazil.
Neither of the current activities in mariculture described above will, within the next few years, help solve Haiti's food problem in any significant manner, even were they technically successful and increased in scope. Also their economic viability is still to be proven. It is therefore the Mission's view that first priority should be given to the development of freshwater culture, which can, where developed effectively, improve the rural standard of living. Given the rather limited resources available for the next few years, efforts in the field of mariculture should be limited to laying the foundation for its later development. Preparation should include: (a) training of one or two middle-level staff in mariculture (oysters, seaweeds, penaeid shrimps, cage culture or marine fish), and (b) surveys of the availability of, exploitation of and trade in such items as oysters, seaweed, snappers and groupers; also investigations into potential supplies of feed. The proposed technical assistance project includes a provision of funds to cover the foreign currency payments that these activities will require.
The Mission recommends that the main obejctive for the proposed technical assistance project be the revival of rural fish culture in Haiti - however, with one major change. Emphasis should be shifted from culture of carps to the culture of tilapias, with or without carps. Culture of tilapia is a well established practice in other parts of the world. Its main advantage is the fact that the farmer, once he has understood its principles, usually is able to carry on without further Government assistance; he can obtain most inputs through his own labour:
In preparing for the technical assistance project (Annex 7) the Government should:
survey existing and abandoned fish ponds, recording their size, location and present use;
initiate rehabilitation of the Damien Fish Culture Station
make the administrative arrangements required to bring the fish culture station at Des-eaux under the control of the future project, and initiate its rehabilitation;
identify those areas that have sufficient water for development of fish culture in ponds;
in such areas, carry out surveys of the availability of feed and fertilizer ingredients (noting quantities and period of availability, price, transportation cost, alternative use).
If these activities are not completed at the time the technical assistance project starts, its first task would be to complete them. It would then:
train extension workers;
train fish farm managers;
rehabilitate abandoned fish ponds, and through the extension service - which the project will create - promote and assist in the construction of new ponds;
convert the Damien Fish Culture Station into a demonstration and training centre;
locate, and assist in the construction of, rural centres for fingerling production; and,
study the feasibility of integrated farming (fish-cum-duck, fish-cum-chicken, fish-cum-pig, etc.).
