Aquaculture consultancy, a citizen owned firm is in the process of establishing a fish hatchery in Maun that will produce and supply fingerlings to aspiring fish farmers in the north west region, nationally and even export the excess. The firm has future plans of setting up a fish cannery plant.
This was revealed by the firm’s owner Seloilwe Seloilwe, who has said fish farming remains an untapped industry that locals can explore as an income generating stream to improve their livelihoods.
He added that to help government improve production of fish in Botswana, boost food security and eradicate poverty, Aquaculture Consultancy Botswana is already making aims to penetrate the industry, and seeks to holistically transform the fish industry in the country.
Seloilwe, who is a Botswana Qualification Authority (BQA) accredited trainer in aquaculture, now specialising in fish farming, has already approached the North West District Council (NWDC) for a partnership to construct a fish hatchery facility in Maun that will produce fingerlings to supply aspiring fish farmers in the entire Ngamiland region.
The consultancy is also hoping to take advantage of the Thuo Letlotlo government programme that is on the pipeline and ensure that the plan becomes a reality.
According to Seloilwe, the idea is to have a facility that has the capacity to produce 500, 000 mixed Tilapia and Catfish fingerlings per annum. The facility will also act as a training centre for these farmers.
In addition, Seloilwe revealed that they will also supply fish feeds exported from South Africa and Zimbabwe as the products are in short supply across the country. “The plant will be established to entirely service the community that will be interested in the aquaculture industry,” he said in an interview.
Seloilwe observed statistics show that fish consumption in the country to date is three 3 kg per capita per annum as compared to 11.4 Kg/per capita per year of the SADC region. He further revealed that the national demand for fish is at 5000 metric tons per annum but only produce 550 metric tons per year is produced,120 metrics from aquaculture and 430 metric tons from the inland.
“People still believe in fishing directly from the river but with climate change it is a fact that the practice in the long run may not be sustainable because of low rainfalls,” said Seloilwe advising people to resort to fish farming.
Seloilwe said fish farming is sustainable and can be managed well as compared to the traditional model where there is overfishing. He added that the practice also does not expose fishermen to drownings as well as attacks by deadly aquatic animals such as hippos and crocodiles, incidents which are prevalent in Ngamiland.
In the future, Seloilwe said they also hope to construct a fish canning plant in Maun as there is currently none in Botswana. He indicated that their aim is to identify a partner for the construction of both the hatchery and canning plant before end of this year.
“Ours is to identify the market thereafter and penetrate it, and we already have DRC, they are in need of fish either canned or dried,” he closed.
