Aquaculture & Mariculture

Fish farming is a sector that is set to grow.

The farming of freshwater fish (aquaculture) and sea fish (mariculture) offers enormous employment and commercial potential and experts believe that aquaculture could make a serious contribution to alleviating food security concerns. The national Department of Science and Technology (DST) has taken on projects in the aquaculture sector as part of its Sustainable Livelihoods Programme.

KwaZulu-Natal’s large number of inland cold-water bodies means that the province has the potential to develop as a major aquaculture centre. Similarly, the province’s long coastline should provide many mariculture opportunities.

One of the DST’s provincial pilot projects is testing the technical, environmental and commercial factors in the production of freshwater species, such as tilapia, barbel and carp, using highdensity polyethylene (HDPE) cage net technology. These 50-ton facilities are to be managed over two seasons. HDPE cages have been installed in the Pongolapoort Dam in northern KwaZulu-Natal and fingerlings are being produced in local hatcheries using brood stock from the dam. This is done to ensure that the genetic pool of the local tilapia is not disturbed.

The potential for prawn farming in KwaZulu- Natal is huge, with the locally available white prawns (Lourenço Marques or LM prawns) already a very popular product with a ready market. Hopes are high that public-private partnerships will grow this segment of the mariculture industry.

A thriving freshwater commercial sector for trout breeding and fishing already exists in KwaZulu-Natal. The Giants Cup Hatchery alone produces one million fish every year. Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife has several hatcheries in the Kamberg Dam area and there are many private reserves and specialist trout farms and lodges that have their own hatcheries to stock their dams.

If this expertise in the private sector can be tapped, there is no reason why fish-farming initiatives designed to deal with food security should not be successful.

The most popular region in the province for fly fishing is the southern Drakensberg, in particular the Himeville- Underberg area. Brown and rainbow trout are found in the area, with fish spawned in the wild weighing up to four kilograms.

Carp and bass fishing can be done in many of the province’s dams, with the Ntshingwayo Dam in the Chelmsford Reserve being one of the most popular. Tiger fishing is practised on the Pongolapoort Dam.














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