Hi Badiane,
If RAS systems are so profitable, how come Asia
doesn’t produce tilapia this way? Vietnam was recently
producing 1 million tonnes per year of Pangasius catfish,
none of it from RAS systems, why?
RAS systems are useful for:
1) Producing high value species in which good
environmental control is required.
2) Producing fish where high biosecurity is required
– SPF shrimp, barramundi nursing, etc.
3) Producing tropical fish in temperature climates
where heating is a major cost and probably vice versa, for
example if you wanted to produce salmon in Thailand using
coolers.
4) Producing fish where land is very expensive –
such as in a city.
5) Producing fish in arid areas and where soil is
not suitable for ponds, such as in the desert.
6) For public aquariums.
There are many systems and many ways to raise
fish. The one most suitable is the one that produces fish
at the lowest cost per kg. If that cost is significantly
lower than the present market price for that species, then
it is a viable business.
To everyone - don’t be a lover or a hater, keep
an open mind. All systems have their uses.
Best regards
Warren
RAS is now essential for the
development of aquaculture in Africa. ok the cost is
high (energy, tech, food, etc...) but it is very
profitable. So it's not small investors who will be able
to build but only leading investors can afford to have.
With regard to the cost of production
per kg for my case the RAS I head in Côte d'Ivoire, it
is about 1000 f cfa (but the sale price is excellent)
can be higher cages or ponds production. But how many
production you can do in the year with the RAS while for
cages or ponds you can do more than 2 harvests.
Our RAS have only 0.4 ha of growing
and we produces 3,000 tonnes year. 0.4 ha of Pond cant
do it.
Environment impact of RAS is less than cages or
pondsfarms. The
little water that comes out is treated and reused
The problem of the RAS in Africa
is they have never been managed by capable people. Make
fish farming would never mean that can handle a RAS it
takes a high-tech
your post does not take into account
many factors. Think that the RAS will not work in
Africa is really stopped the development of this sector.
BADIANE Abdoul Aziz
Aquaculture Specialist /Consultant
Supervisor production HydroFish
06 BP 316
Abidjan 06
Côte d' Ivoire
Tel: (+225) 22 40 25 12
Fax: (+225) 22 40 32 20
Mobil: (+225) 58
48 93 00
Many of the people selling such
systems are technical sales people with little
or no background in Aquaculture in Africa, and
some simple calculations would show their
systems are not competitive with traditional
pond-based or cage-based production
techniques. These RAS systems depend on
reasonable cost grid power supplies, and in
Africa obtaining these is expensive, and the
supply is extremely unreliable. Back-up
generators just add to the cost, and are often
so poorly maintained that their reliability in
an emergency situation is suspect.
Unfortunately these “white
elephants” are not only giving RAS a bad
name, but also (from an investment aspect)
Aquaculture in general, and South African
systems in particular an unsavory reputation.
While there is no doubt that
RAS has a place in the overall scheme of
things, most applications of these
technologies are usually only cost-effective
for tasks such as hatcheries and holding
systems. In Africa, with such a wealth of
still unexploited sites for gravity fed ponds
and quality waterbodies for cages, it will be
long time before RAS can produce fish at the
same price.
Agriculture, Fisheries and
Aquaculture Consulting
East African Community and SADC
Region
Phone ++260 965 445464
(Zambia)
I am intrigued to know the
aquaculture credentials of the "South
African Engineering company" that did the
design of your project. Did they show you a
working model of their design that was fully
operational? If they did not, were they
able to give you referral to an overseas or
inter-African example of where their design
parameters were working?
I ask because SA is getting a
reputation for high-tech system designs that
simply do not lead to profitably operational
fish farms.
A 500 tonne/pa. tilapia farm
is considerable in terms of production and
infrastructure requirements...BUT it is the
way that it is done that will make the
difference between yet another white
elephant...and a viable aquaculture unit. We
are getting a little tired of these
"engineer-designed" set-ups designed by
people who have never kept a fish alive in
their lives, as they are giving RAS
aquaculture in Africa a bad name.
Nicholas P E James
Rivendell Hatchery
PO Box 6146
Grahamstown
6141 South Africa
Cell 082 575 9781
----- Original Message
-----
Dear William,
Allow me to take this opportunity to
introduce my selves. I am Benedictus
Stephanus from Namibia. We are
battling to get an Fresh water Fish
farm off the ground at the Naute Dam
for the last 4years. Of the challenges
we have are more of technical support
base. Thus we are in need of a
technical partner which could take
care of the technical requirements of
the project.
We look forward towards the valuable
support from the forum at large.
Kindly,
Benedictus Stephanus
Executive Chairman
Naute Aqua Fish Farms cc
Mobil: +265 856 095 352
Email: bstephanus@iway.na
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