In the proposal submitted by the Government of Israel through the Oceanographic and Limnological Research Limited (OLRL) and approved by UNDP in October 1973, three kinds of assistance were requested to accelerate progress in marine and estuarine aquaculture:
advice and assistance in research and development by expert consultants;
funds for the purchase of laboratory equipment;
funds to support training through fellowships and travel grants.
The proposal mentions one consultant, who should be “a highly qualified person with experience in the field of marine fanning.… most of his time will be devoted to guiding groups. He will be asked to advise on research needed for establishing successful marine fanning, and on specific questions such as the choice of organisms and localities, rearing of specific organisms, nutrition, diseases, etc.”
From information gained during the present preliminary consultancy it appears that progress in research has taken solution beyond that described or implied in the proposal, and that the kind of expert advice needed is different than outlined above.
From what appears to be adequate reasons, the species chosen for principal research and development attention by OLRL is the gillhead bream or denise, Sparus auratus. Some effort will also be put by this group on the seabass Dicentrarchus sp. and on the pearl oysters, Pinctada spp. Other organisms will be studied if it proves useful to do so, but the decision not to spread efforts too thinly over several species appears wise. (Other research groups at the University of Jerusalem and elsewhere are engaged in work on the shrimp Macrobrachium rosenbergii, on mullet, Mugil sp. and on other animals).
It appears that expert advice is not needed in Israel for “guiding research groups” in the general sense implied in the proposal. The scientists involved are competent and well trained in research, in areas closely associated with the problems they face in the aquaculture project. They lack experience and special knowledge, however, in some particular aspects which are critical to the success of the endeavour. What is required, therefore, instead of the one year-long consultancy by a generalist in aquaculture, are shorter consultancies by more highly specialized experts in two particular fields.
The first of these fields is fish reproduction and larval development. Perhaps the most critical segment of the programme planned in Israel is to develop successful technology for producing commercial quantities of fry of Sparus (and later other species) to stock ponds and other enclosures. The present device of capturing wild fry will sooner or later be inadequate for a commercial culture venture. Thus as quickly as possible techniques must be developed to maintain permanent brood stock in hatcheries, to produce spawning there, naturally or by induction, and to raise large numbers of fry to stockable size. This involves better knowledge than is now available in Israel on the reproductive physiology of Sparus, on techniques for inducing spawning, on the culture of microalgae and other food organisms for the larval and juvenile fish, and on the dynamics of the cultures of these food organisms. Mr. Hillel Gordin, who is engaged in this work, has good qualifications, and will be able to take full advantage of expert assistance. In his course and dissertation work at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography he gained experience in the biology and culture of phytoplankton, in food chains of the sea, and in larval development of fish. He has successfully used this skill and knowledge in the work accomplished so far at Eilat on Sparus.
The first expert, therefore should be skilful in this area of activity. His consultancy should be for about 5–7 months, and it must be timed to coincide with the reproductive season of Sparus.
There are scientists who have had experience in this kind of activity, although their number is not large. It may be easier to recruit a suitable person for a consultancy of six months or so rather than for twice as long.
The second field in which expert advice is required through a consultant is in fish nutrition and feed development. In instances (e.g. France, Italy) where Sparus larvae have been successfully hatched, mortalities have been high, and inadequacy of food is probably a major factor. Further, the fry surviving to juvenile size have frequently not thrived from these life stages to marketable sizes, again clearly partly a consequence of poor diets. Solution of these difficulties requires basic research on fish nutrition, and investigation of feed formulation, both in respect to cheap and nutritionally appropriate components and to mechanical formulation. Some of the aspects of this work can be done by people already available in Israel, with the cooperation of the universities and the freshwater culture laboratories; for example the amino acid analyses. For other work a competent fish nutritionist should be invited to spend 5–7 months as a consultant. He would assist and advise Dr. George W. Kissil, who is engaged in this work. Dr. Kissil has had some experience in the kind of work involved here. In particular he has been successful in raising wild fry of Sparus to marketable and larger than minimum marketable sizes, and in periods about half that required in nature. In the course of this work he has carried out controlled and replicated experiments to test certain foods that he has fabricated, and he has already been able to modify the foods to formulas cheaper and nutritionally more suitable than the earliest ones. He would be able to proceed with this kind of work more rapidly and with better chance of success if he had the advice and assistance of a competent expert.
In the Government proposal to UNDP certain items of equipment were requested. One purpose of the preliminary consultancy was to review this equipment list and to suggest amendments if necessary.
The equipment requested included basic laboratory and hatchery items, some of which might have been expected to be already available. However, nearly all of them are regarded as necessary to the fulfilment of the project, and it appears to be justified to approve their purchase in most oases. Several reviews of equipment needs were conducted with the Israeli scientists, and considerable time was spent by them in reviewing their requirements, identifying sources and in obtaining price quotations. As a result of the reviews some items were dropped from the list, and other changes made. Because of changes and price rises since the first list was prepared, the total cost of the equipment requested will be somewhat higher than at first. The equipment required for the work of the project consultants should receive high priority and the specifications for these, particularly the feed mill, should be prepared with the assistance of the consultants concerned.
It was clear in the course of the discussions in Israel that the amount of money assigned for the training component in the proposal was less than the Israeli officials believe they can usefully employ.
After consultation with the Israeli group the following fellowships were recommended:
In Sête, Brest, and other locations in France, and in appropriate laboratories elsewhere, where active work is under way. On the induced spawning of Sparus and other fishes. Two months for the spawning and fry handling operations could also be observed.
Four months for fish nutrition laboratories in the United States and some European countries, to get first-hand experience and information.
Four months for a senior technician in Sête, Brest and other laboratories where induced spawning of Sparus and other species is being carried out, to learn techniques and recent developments in the care and handling of fish and equipment.
