Presented by
D. Hadoud
MBRC/LIBFISH Aqua Component
Group
1. INTRODUCTION
Various sites along the coastline have been studied over past years by Libyan scientists (benthos, plankton, sedimentology, hydrology). Since a comprehensive survey is a lengthy exercise and since needless duplication of work should be avoided, the LIBFISH/MBRC site selection group has been requested to review all the existing documents and records relevant to coastal aquaculture development.
2. EXISTING STUDIES
From 1975 to 1991 more than 40 sites are known to have been studied by scientists from MBRC, Aquaculture Institute (Khoms), and El Fatah University. They include lagoons, gulfs, cove beaches, salt marches, landing sites, and wadis. Unfortunately many of the studies have not been published or otherwise issued as working papers and thus are not readily available as sources of information.
For Libyan lagoons a primary reference document remains that compiled by Kerambrun as a UNESCO publication (Kerambrun, 1986), along with the MBRC Bulletin devoted to the Farwa Lagoon (1982).
3. DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
Coastal aquaculture projects have been developed in some sites that have been judged to be suitable, but they have remained quite limited in number and scope. The only active sites at the present time are:
Ain El Ghazalah, a large cove setting between Derna and Tobruk in the east, where cage culture of sea-bass, sea-bream, and mullet is attempted, along with some mussel culture); and
Ain Kaam Farm near Khoms, where there is a shrimp hatchery and some cage culture of Tilapia.
Attempts have been made in the past without notable success to use the Farwa lagoon for mussel culture, and various fresh water reservoirs for stocking with carps, catfish and Tilapia.
3. CONCLUSION
Although a large amount of information already exists on the Libyan coastline which could be extremely useful for the execution of aquaculture site selection work, much of it has never been presented in a readily usable form.
A major effort is therefore required to organise this information into a common data base for easy storage and retrieval by technical personnel and planners. It would then be possible to carry out a complete inventory of available information and, in cases where there is a genuine lack, organise additional data collection through field trips.
At that point a comprehensive data review would provide the basis both for selecting suitable sites and for deciding on the most appropriate aquaculture methods to employ.
