Tunisia moving forward with aquaculture development
Odd Grydeland As I will have an opportunity to first hand see what is happening in Tunisian aquaculture over the next two weeks, I found the following posting this week by TunisiaOnlineNews of particular interest; Organized by the National Institute of Science and Sea Technology, a conference was held on Thursday in Tunis, to take stock of scientific research in the fish farming sector with a view to strengthen this activity and set up new projects. esearch results on the control of fish farming techniques and ways to improve its production, in addition to the promotion of fish farming in Tunisia’s major dam reservoirs, were discussed during the conference. The conference aims at increasing the contribution of this sector to the production of fish products to 10 % by 2016 to reach 8, 000 tons of marine fish, 5,500 tons of freshwater fish, 800 tons of shells and nearly 300 tons of shrimps.Opening the conference, Mr. Abderrazak Daaloul, the Secretary of State in charge for Fisheries, said that the total fish farming production reaches currently 3,200 tons totaling 3% of the overall national fishing production. He added that in order to boost the role of the Institute, it will focus on establishing coastal centers in Tabarka, Gabes and Zarzis in addition to the one recently created in Mahdia. Mr. Ridha Mrabet, the Director of the Institute, said that this project has reached significant results in research in Marine Biotechnology sector as well as a substantial increase in fish stocks and an improvement in fishing techniques that will be presented in upcoming conferences.Tunisia currently boasts 23 fishing projects, including 9 for fish farming, 4 for blue fin tuna farming, 6 others for shellfish and 4 projects for freshwater farming. In addition, 14 projects are currently underway, including 7 fish farming projects, 5 for fresh water farming and 2 dedicated to shellfish, besides 20 other projects under study.Stay tuned for additional reports from this African country.
