Egypt’s aquaculture production has nearly tripled since 2005, reaching 1.4 million metric tons last year. The growth has pushed its volume total past traditional aquaculture powerhouses Norway and Chile, according to The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture report, issued by the FAO in 2018.
The growth is not expected to slow down. By 2030, the FAO projects Egypt will be producing an estimated 2.3 million metric tons (MT), up 68 percent from its 2018 figure. That total would be more than half of current global production of tilapia, which in 2018 stood at 4.2 million MT.
The backbone of the rapid expansion of Egypt’s aquaculture sector is an increase in production of a species that has roots in the country’s ancient history: Nile tilapia. Out of Egypt’s total aquaculture production of 1.4 million MT, Nile tilapia accounted for 900,000 MT.
According to aquaculture feed production company Skretting, tilapia aquaculture has been booming thanks to government support and Egypt’s fast-growing population, which is developing a taste for fish. The country’s population stands at around 100 million and is growing at 1.9 percent per year, and its per capita consumption has increased to 16 kilograms, according to Skretting.
To serve the aquaculture sector in Egypt and other fast-growing African countries, Skretting formed an Egyptian division in 2008. Skretting Egypt has found that the growing number of smallholder farmers starting new aquaculture ventures have a “thirst for knowledge” and a “determination to adopt best-practices," according to General Manager Skretting Egypt Ayman Rostom.
“Going back only as far as 2005, Egypt’s total aquaculture production stood at a modest 500,000 metric tons, so you can see how far it has come,” Rostom said. “Our role as the market leader is to support Egyptian farmers by helping them to maximize farm productivity. This is being accomplished by our sales and technical support team. We are also leveraging Egypt’s aquaculture industry through the excellent cooperative relationships we have established with international and national NGOs.”
The company has launched two new products globally in 2019 that it believes will find a niche in Egypt. The Nutra range consists of starter diets to support first-feeding fry from egg to fingerling. The company is now selling Nutra in Egypt, Kenya, Uganda, Cote d'Ivoire, and Mali, it said.
Its Protec for tilapia feed is “a new functional diet especially designed to help support tilapia and enhance their ability to cope with during challenging situations, including the hot summer seasons,” the company said.
“Essentially, Protec Tilapia helps to support the natural defenses of the fish, it supports the immune system and it optimizes the balance between fish, microbes and environment,” it said.
The two diets are the result of trials conducted by researchers at Skretting Aquaculture Research Centre at locations around the world, according to the company.
“When it comes to farmed fish, tilapia is a global phenomenon. Its affordable price, omnivorous diet, tolerance to high-density production methods, fast growth rates and strong resistance to disease challenges have made it a very important protein source and a vital income and livelihood provider for millions of people,” Skretting said. “With the aquaculture sector growing increasingly competitive, it becomes even more important to focus on fish health, efficiency, quality and lower costs and to utilize technological developments.”
Skretting said it sees its feed products as an important part of growing the tilapia sector in order to provide sufficient protein to the populations of Egypt and the rest of the African continent.
“Skretting Egypt is ideally positioned to export its diets throughout Africa, meaning these and other innovations will support the evolution of the continent’s aquaculture sector and also cement tilapia’s position as an essential food product. With the African population now at more than 1.2 billion people and fish consumption growing in many regions, Skretting will continue to live up to its group-wide mission of ‘Feeding the Future.’”
Photo courtesy of Skretting
