Multi-million dollar croc project on cards

By Wallace Mawire

The Zimbabwe Development Trust, in partnership with a private consortium, is embarking on an ambitious Crocodile farming project at Nuanetsi  in Mwenezi.

Crocodile handbag

 

At optimum production capacity, they intend to be the biggest crocodile farm in the world with a production capacity of 600 000 crocodiles – targeting lucrative European markets. The details of the project were revealed at a recent agriculture workshop held by the Mandi Rukuni seminars in Harare. In his presentation titled: The Freshwater aquaculture sector in Zimbabwe, Garikaimose Tongowona, Programmes Officer for Aquaculture Zimbabwe, said the sector was doing well. The development of the Lake Harvest Aquaculture Farm on Lake Kariba, a multi-million investment in the farming of the tilapia fish breams, had been highly successful he said. The farm has penetrated the European as well as regional markets, and was currently producing close to 10,000 tonnes of fish a year, with a target of 20,000tonnes by 2013. Tongowona says that, regardless of the present inconsistencies and lack of a clear roadmap for the fish industry, the prognosis for growth of the aquaculture sector, locally, across species and systems, appears very positive. "Demand projections suggest greater output and value in most subsectors, warranting a firmer role GDP wise," he said. The value of the sector is such that many enterprises are likely to strengthen their positions and in changing economic, trade and environmental conditions, national interests in competing in wider markets are also likely to increase. "Great job creation opportunities abound in a country endowed with great bio-technical factors of production. With government prioritisation, only the sky will stop this sector," Tongowona added.

The Zimbabwean Newspaper (23-29 June 2011)

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/business/manufacturing/50284/multi-million-dollar-croc-project.html

 

 

Food and Travel: Fish, chips and amazing facts!

By Dusty Miller

THIS column, as the banner above boldly states, is about food and travel.

So last week, I travelled to Kariba to discover more about an increasingly important source of protein for Zimbabwe, the sub-region and  one that is finding its way onto the menus of some  of the world’s greatest and most prestigious restaurants.

Call it Kariba bream, or the posh word tilapia or give it its scientific name oreochromis niloticus and we’re talking about the same thing: a delicious, white fleshed (and meaty, well-fleshed) fish, which can be “fish farmed” highly sustainably and astonishingly quickly; a fish which is a perfectly acceptable substitute in most recipes for threatened stocks of cod, haddock, pollock or hake whether the dish be your humble fish-chips-and-mushy-peas or an esoteric Heston Blumenthal creation.

It is quite ironic that one of Zimbabwe’s newer industries — fish farming — is one of Africa’s oldest animal husbandry practices.

Thousands of years ago the Ancient Egyptians built ponds off the banks of the River Nile and bred the tasty bream, fattening them up and killing them as required:  a much quicker, more satisfactory and more reliable way of feeding a family than relying on the vagaries of angling in a fast flowing river which (then) must have been alive with dangerous Nile crocodiles. (There are now no crocodiles in the river after the Aswan Dam, which is probably a pity, you might be excused for thinking, when you see (and unfortunately smell) the dead donkeys, dogs, cats, camels, goats and the odd rapidly putrefying human cadaver floating through the centre of otherwise picturesque Cairo!)

If you come across an illustrated Bible, the pictures depicting Jesus feeding the 5 000 clearly show the fish He used to be niloticus.

I visited fish farmers and processors Lake Harvest Aquaculture, a sparkling, spanking new food plant on the beautiful shores of Lake Kariba. I had been there many years earlier, when Cairns Foods made an abortive attempt at breeding freshwater prawns during UDI, when real sanctions made that locally popular delicacy very scarce, especially after the 1974 fall of the Portuguese Empire and Mozambican independence.

Cairns grew prawns alright, but they tasted of absolutely….zilch! Whatever way you cooked them and whichever sauce you added they still had all the flavour of ….well, cardboard, I seem to recall!

Despite the bitter, deadly Hondo, many folk managed to have proper marine prawns smuggled in from Mozambique on NCI (no customs involved!) deals.

In those days most of the bream around was line-caught or netted in its natural state and, being bottom feeders (members of the chiclid family which also nurse baby fry in the mothers’ mouths), much of the local fish tasted strongly, and rather unpleasantly, of mud…or sand.  (In those days, local commercially produced eggs also had almost no colour in the yolks!) Egg-and-bacon looked truly insipid.

The Commonwealth Development Corporation started bream farming where Lake Harvest operates now in 1996 sinking US$10 million into the sort of project they had successfully developed initially in South America and bringing in overseas know-how.

When CDC disinvested, the business was sold to local shareholders, who have recently spent lots more on an operation which employs 700 local people, none from farther away than Banket.

I spoke to Lake Harvest Aquaculture general manager Garikai Munatsirei and after hearing a series of impressive facts, figures, data and statistics (production has increased from 2,500 tonnes of fish a year to 7,500 tonnes; next year they’ll hit 10 000 tonnes and the target is 30 000 tonnes by 2015), for instance), asked him the question every Zimbabwean housewife and diner-out would want me to:“Why is Zimbabwean produced fish dearer than (say) hake from South Africa?”

The reply sounded totally convincing: the South African fisherman knows where the shoals of hake are, chugs along there, confirms his target with a state-of-the-art fish-finder, shoves out his nets and pulls in several tonnes of tasty protein.

Lake Harvest’s bream, conversely, has been nursed along from tiny almost microscopic fry, through the fingerling stage to table weight for around 10  months of almost constant feeding and motherly attention to its health and welfare.

Every kilo of table-ready fish (expertly filleted or whole-gutted) has been fed on two kilogrammes of fish food. At the fry stage this is a fine high-protein powder imported from Mauritius, production manager Kumbirai Makunike told me. From fingerling stage they are fed on pellets of mainly organically-grown feeder.

Kumbirai joined the outfit as the accountant, but soon decided the outdoor life, looking after the wellbeing of 150 squillion fish, was much preferable to dull number crunching! Can you blame him?

We first walked through hectares of breeding and feeding pools on rich land and later visited, by speedboat, the tropical cage culture circular netted holding ponds where the fish spend the last few weeks of their lives being almost constantly fed (they leap out of the water in joyful anticipation when they hear the feeder boat coming.)

Herbivorous, the pellets comprise mainly maize and soya, which used to be readily available from local Highveld farmers, but is now imported from Zambia and Malawi.  (Ironically, I hazarded a guess, possibly grown by those same dispossessed Karoi, Chinhoyi, Banket famers who were the original suppliers)

The company runs its own pelletisation set-up; one I didn’t have time to visit, and healthy nutrients, vitamins and fishmeal from sustainable sources are added to bulk cereal.) This is top feeding. The cages go down 10 metres in 45-50 metre deep water)  but are still suspended well above the lake floor, hence no mud or sand-flavoured fillets nowadays!                        

THE Lake Harvest Aquaculture 700 workforce include management, micro-biologists and other scientists, down to fish-gutters, cleaners and sweepers and even 18 fully trained deep-water divers under Divemaster Tawedzera Bvunzawabaya. Kitted out in short, thin, wet suits (Kariba water is always warm) they inspect every square centimetre of the net cages at least twice a week. Routine maintenance and repairs are carried out on site and divers report if a major repair is needed, warranting the cage being towed back to land.

At 4pm on March 13, a violent marine storm dramatically hit the lake. One of the cages broke off its moorings and tore badly on a steel buoy.  It was too dangerous to attempt to repair until the next day. Much to the delight of the local avaricious tigerfish population (and the angling fraternity) 70% of the bream escaped. That’s about 100 000 fish weighing approximately 300g each at that stage (and worth US$2,5 a kg.)

Garikai sighs wistfully. “It was an act of God”, he says. “Thankfully no one was hurt.”

What impressed me most about the operation was the lack of that distinctive fishy smell which hits you in the nostrils in such places as fish processing factories in Hull, Grimsby, Aberdeen or Cape Town. There is just no pong.

There was also a tangible feeling of team spirit and joint pleasure in a worthwhile pioneering job being done expertly and profitably in the lakeside plant which is an Export processing Zone.

It was satisfying to see the fish are humanely slaughtered. A bream which has given you a good fight on a line can taste dreadful. They die with adrenaline pumping, stressed and tense.

There is virtually no waste. Even the guts of the fish are handed on to a local church for them to extract fish oil for resale. Scraps, head, tails, scales and other nasty looking bits and bobs go to the company’s adjoining crocodile ranch. They produce 5 000 wet-salted skins a year out of an animal population of 25 000, nearly all exported to Singapore via an agent in RSA.

More facts and figures: 40% of total production is immediately exported to Zambia, where they prefer  fish whole and ungutted; 40% is for the domestic market, filleted skin-on; skin-off; whole gutted.  The balance is flown to South Africa, DRC, Botswana, Mozambique and the UK (where every fish is exclusively supplied to blue-chip Waitrose supermarket chain.)

Solid markets have unfortunately been lost in France, Belgium, Holland, Germany etc due to Zimbabwe’s pariah-nation status. “Third World Groupies and NGOs” once boycotted Waitrose demanding to know why they were selling expensive Zimbabwean grown fish when “millions of Zimbabweans were starving”. A meeting was quickly convened, facts explained; boycott lifted!

Britain imports only filleted fish, without skin.

Which is what I ate…with chips and a splendid salad at a lunch with my hosts in the boardroom during an exhilarating five hour tour which — I firmly believe — tourists would pay good money to experience and enjoy.

I could see Garikai’s little grey matter twitching when I voiced this. The company is actively pursuing the value-added route. Fish fingers, cakes and goujons are already planned and thought is being given to a chain of fish and chips shops.

After all low cholesterol, high protein Omega-3 rich fish is much better for you than some of the super fat-saturated bits of gorchaed chicken currently on offer in Zimbabwe’s fast-food outlets.

Visit the Lake Harvest website (www.lakeharvest.com) for a whole range of splendid sounding (and looking) recipes using the finest Zimbabwean tilapia...or bream…or niloticus!

The Zimbabwe Independent

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/entertainment/31396-food-and-travel-fish-chips-and-amazing-facts.html

 

 

 

Fishing co-operatives face challenges.

Saturday, 21 May 2011

 

MEMBERS of the Chizuminano co-operative arrive from a night fishing trip with only two trays weighing less than 100kg. FISHING co-operatives operating in Kariba Dam in the Chibuyu area of Binga are appealing for assistance in the form of boats and nets to boost their operations.

The co-operatives, whose membership numbers from 20 to 30, are facing serious operating challenges as they compete with established companies in the kapenta fishing industry.

The members of the co-operatives are using dilapidated boats, with some being forced to use canoes.

This is in sharp contrast with established companies that are using well-equipped fishing boats.
The established companies are enjoying bigger catches than the co-operative members, yet the two sides are competing for the same market.

 

 

MEMBERS of the Chizuminano co-operative arrive from a night fishing trip with only two trays weighing less than 100kg.

 

One such fishing co-operative that has problems with its equipment is Chizuminano, whose membership stands at 10. Co-operative secretary Mr Siyamukange Manheru said they started the venture in 1993.

He said since then members had only managed to buy a single boat.

 “If we can have more than one boat, things will improve as we are competing with big companies that have more than three boats,’’ said Mr Manheru.

He said due to the shortage of fishing boats, the co-operative was able to catch only between four and five tonnes a month compared to the established companies that can haul in more than 20 tonnes.

Mr Manheru said while the co-operative has three licences, it had only been able to use one due to a lack of fishing boats and nets.

He said as a result of shortage of equipment, established companies had taken advantage and were now fishing in areas demarcated for co-operatives.

“The dam is divided into basins, with us owning the area that covers Kudu,” said Mr Manheru. “But we are seeing companies fishing in our area as their areas are not giving them a good catch during this period.’’

Mr Manheru said since they competed with established companies, it was equally important that roads leading to the fishing camps be accessible as co-operatives did not have transport to take their produce to the market as was the case with the big companies.

“We have to wait for customers to come to us of which not many do so because of poor roads,” he said.
“So you find that we can get stuck with our kapenta, while the companies push their catch fast.’’

Mr Manheru said it was the responsibility of the National Parks and Wildlife Authority to see to it that companies did not encroach onto areas reserved for cooperatives.

A parks official in the area, who refused to be named, said they acted only if the co-operatives reported the cases.

He said it was common during this time of the season that certain areas of the dam could have less kapenta.

As a result, there was a lot of encroaching onto each other’s areas, but the operators had to understand their areas of jurisdiction.

The official bemoaned the need to give a break on kapenta fishing in the lake to allow breeding. He said it was sad that it was only in Zimbabwe where kapenta fishing was conducted non-stop, yet in countries such as Malawi a three-month break is observed every year.

“Global warming is causing reduction in breeding as the plant that the kapenta feed on is being destroyed,’’ said the parks official.-

 

By Emilia Zindi

Saturday, 21 May 2011 to 28 May 2011 Sunday Mail Edition

 

           

FISHING PERMITS

Trout fishing at Nyanga- Popular waters/per dam per person, per day.................On quotation from Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZPNWMA)

Per dam per person per annum................................................................ On quotation from Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZPNWMA)

Note- A bag limit of 5 fish per day

Trout fishing permit at quality waters in Nyanga.............................................................Charge

Lake Gulliver.............................................................Quotation on request

Gairesi River .............................................................Quotation on request

Bag limit of 4 fish per day /per person

Sport Fishing by Tour Operators, Excluding River Usage

Permit Fees /Annum.............................................................US $400.00

Ordinary Fishing Permit Per Park per person, per day (maximum two rods)

a) Manapools FishingUS$10, 00 Resident, US$20, 00 Non Resident excluding river usage & entry fees

b) Darwendale Fishing

i) Motorized US$10, 00 Resident& US$15, 00 Non Resident inclusive of river usage

ii) Non Motorized US$5, 00/person/Resident/ US$10,00 Non Resident

Bag Limit of 6 Fish/day

Other Areas Including Kariba

Per Park per person, per day (maximum two rods)..............US$5, 00 resident/ US$5,00 Non Resident

Angling in prime fishing areas in Kariba Dam:-

(1) Tiger Bay Fishing Area,Antelope Park, Crocodile Park and all other Areas …………………US$5, 00 resident/US$10, 00 Non Resident / angler /day excluding river usage

(2) Motorised Fishing in All Areas…..US$10,00 Locals, US$20,00 Non Resident/angler/day/ Inclusive of  River Usage

Bag limit of 6 fish/day

Commercial seine/gillnet fishing in:

  (a)          (i)Chivero...................................................................   10 000 US$/Annum

(ii) Darwendale, Kariba,Mazvikadei,Kyle...................   10 000 US$/Annum

 

(iii)Kariba..................................................................     TBA

 

(iv)Mazvikadei,Kyle,Cunningham,Osborne, Umzingwane, Manjirenji, Bangala, Sebakwe, Ngezi...  US1000 /Annum

 

(b)Kapenta fishing permit (Kariba) per Unit...................... TBA (Base Price) Actual to be based on turnover.

(c) Non concession area...............................................       To be based on turnover

(d) Gill net fishing block permit (Binga Rural Council and Nyaminyami).................................................................  US$2400.00/Annum

(e) Permit to fish in Kanyemba ( Zambezi River )....................................    US$800.00/Annum

(f) Permit to possess fishing nets on private dams................................... US$20.00/Annum

All commercial fishing operators are required to submit returns to the warden of the area of their fishing operation and a Parks and Wildlife Management Authority officer assigned by the Authority shall be given unhindered access to fishing records.

B. -SPORT /COMPETITION FEES IN PARKS ESTATE*

Angling per day up to 50 competitors

The tournament fee is inclusive of the fishing permit but exclusive of river usage fees which will be paid according to nationalities of the participants. River usage is paid per /person/day, LocalsUS$10, 00, Non Resident US$20, 00.

Junior Anglers (6-12 Years) to pay 50% of adult fees.

Angling/ per tournament /up to a maximum of 3 days @ US$20.00 per person per day

Fees for after tournaments functions e.g. parties US$5000, 00

1-10        US$180,00

-30          US$540,00

-50          US$900,00

Rafting up to 50 competitors

International..........................US$2500, 00/ per tournament/ up to a maximum of 3 days excluding River Usage fees.

Local………………………US$1000, 00/ per tournament / up to a maximum of 3 days excluding River usage fees.

Regatta per day up to 50 competitors...... On Quotation /tournament/up to maximum 3days

Sailing & Yatching per day up to 50 competitors.....US$1 000,00/tournament/up to maximum of 3 days including fishing but exclusive of River usage fees.

Matobo 33 Miler Marathon up to 50 competitors.........................US$180, 00 per day excluding entry fees

Chinhoyi Caves R.Park (Diving)................................................. US$5.00 per person per day

Foreign………………………………………………… US$20, 00

Other areas (diving)………… ………………….  US$5, 00 per person per hour

Foreign…………………….……………………………US$20, 00

*Charges do not include entry fees and River Usage. Entry fee applicable to each park is payable in addition.

N.B. All information on charges is courtesy of the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZNPWMA)

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