Aquaculture production system design, development and management

The wide range of species reared, species requirements, water resources, and regional preferences create the need for a wide variety of aquaculture production systems. Factors such as the interaction between water temperature and water quality and the feeding, growth, and survival of aquatic species cause the design of aquatic production systems to be much more location-specific and site-specific than the designs of systems for terrestrial animal agriculture. Economic, regulatory and climate change pressures are continuing to change the characteristics of aquatic production systems. Therefore, advances in aquaculture production systems are based on a fundamental understanding of the physiological, nutritional, and behavioral requirements of the culture fish. The ability to predict reliably the interaction between the culture fish and the physical, chemical, and biological environment will be needed for design and operation. Long-term fundamental and applied research at the regional and national level is needed to accelerate aquaculture development. The research platform is thus responsible for designing appropriate fish culture production systems and determining the best fish husbandry practices for enhancing and sustaining the growth performance of fish with minimal interference with the environmental. A properly designed production system will enable efficient water use, which will consequently influence the stocking density and carrying capacity, hence having a direct effect on the productivity of the production systems. Given that each site has unique chemical and biophysical characteristics, they require production system designs customized to the existing environmental factors.

Achievements

ARDC together with the Directorate of Fisheries Resources (DFiR) promoted the commercialization of aquaculture through improved pond and cage designs. The improved pond technology produces an estimated 90,000 metric tons of fish valued at UGX 810,000,000= while the fish cage technology produces about 30,000 metric tons of fish annually valued at UGX 270,000,000=. Over the period 2008/09 – 2017/18, ARDC developed the following technologies:
i. A system that enables water exchange from the bottom of ponds and tanks by convectional currents created by uplift (hydrostatic) pressure as opposed to the conventional water exchange from the top surface of pond
ii. A production system integrating aquaculture with irrigated crops thereby reducing on the costs of treating the drained water from fish ponds
iii. A system integrating water harvesting and storage for commercial aquaculture development
iv. Benchmarks for aquaculture production in eastern, western and southwestern agro-ecological zones of Uganda determined to guide investors
Constraint addressed: Lack of information for guiding commercial investment in the aquaculture sub sector.
v. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for selecting sites suitable for cage fish farming developed and disseminated to MAAIF, NEMA, Field extension staff, farmers and other stakeholders
Constraint addressed: Lack of information to guide the selection of suitable sites for cage fish farming in Ugandan water bodies.
vi. Over 50 sites suitable for cage fish farming identified on Lakes Victoria, Albert and Kyoga.
Constraint addressed: Lack of information on suitable site for cage fish farming to enable sustainable aquaculture production.
vii. Guidelines on best management practices for cage fish farming developed and disseminated to farmers, extension staff and other stakeholders
Constraint addressed: Lack of information to guide farmers on sustainable cage aquaculture production
viii. Establishment of demonstration ponds at Kaganda-Kabonera in Masaka and at Mubuku II Irrigation scheme in Kasese where best management practices on pond aquaculture production system have been disseminatedto farmers in those agro ecological zones.