September 24, 2018

China's fish farming course set to benefit Egypt's aquaculture

The Foreign Economic Cooperation Center of China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has recently organised a fish farming workshop in Egypt, which is expected to improve the country's aquaculture production.

According to a September 20 report by Xinhua, the programme is sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and seeks to expand its number of local trainees. It also marks the first time Chinese experts are lecturing on aquaculture in Egypt, said Hand Bing, minister-counselor with the Chinese embassy in the country, during the opening ceremony of the workshop.

The diplomat added that the exchange of knowledge and ideas, and cooperation between Chinese lecturers and Egyptian students can help improve Egyptians' lives.

"The course will address the actual needs of the trainees ... and will focus on fish, shrimp and crab farming techniques and live aqua feed production and processing," You Yang, a research fellow of China Freshwater Fisheries Research Center and one of the course's lecturers, told Xinhua.

"The programme will strengthen the capability of Egypt in the fish farming field, and there is a good chance for Egypt to improve its aquaculture techniques that are similar to those of China in the past," he said.

The workshop includes theoretical lectures and practical courses on aquaculture.

One of its trainees, Reham Adel, who is a demonstrator at the Fish Farming and Technology Institute of the Suez Canal University, noted that new techniques learned at the course will help produce cheaper live aqua feed with a better quality and longer survival rate.

Another trainee, Wahid Madouh, an aquaculture engineer said the course "teaches the production of live aquafeed, on which marine aquaculture is generally based on and whose cost determines the success of a fish farming project."

The workshop would contribute to the expansion of Egypt's aquaculture which represents 75% of overall local production in the country, Al-Araby al-Serwy, a board member of Suez Canal Fish Farming and Aquaculture Company, commented.

"Feed alone represents about 70% of the fish farming cost, so if we manage to increase our live aqua feed production based on the Chinese training programmes and other studies, we will cover a long distance in reducing the cost of feed and, in turn, the cost of fish," Serwy added.

- Xinhua