September 21, 2006

South African fishing giant diversifies into cage fish farming in Zambia

Zambia's I&J, the South Africa fisheries giant which specializes in deep-sea trawling, has launched a fish farm project in Port Elizabeth both as a business venture and to take the pressure off wild populations, the company said.

A site in the lee of the harbour in the Papenkuil River was chosen and the company is awaiting approval from relevant authorities.

The farm would grow 18 tonnes of fish in three cages suspended from float rings and made of a rigid heavy-duty plastic mesh.

About 20,000 kob and yellowtail fingerlings of 5-12 grammes each, would be grown in the first cage, within a volume of about 150 cubic metres, he said.

The fish would be transferred at one to two years of age to the second cage, which would be about 500 cubic metres, and then to a third cage of 1 000 cubic metres, for their last stage of development.

Both species can achieve suitable market size at about two years of age, he said.

The company intends to devote more effort towards further research to focus on parasite control and on entanglement of sharks and dolphins.