By Poni Jeremiah
Fish farming in South Sudan has got a shot in the arm. The Department of Fisheries in State Ministry of Animal resources and Fisheries in Central Equatoria State has received 2,500 Tilapia Nilotica fingerling species from Uganda to help promote fish farming in the new country. The fingerlings worth US$ 3,800 were stocked at Gandaru Demonstration Fish Ponds at Khor-Romula Village 3 kilometres south of Juba Town.
State Minister of Animal Resources and Fisheries, Central Equatoria State, Professor Lodu Bureng said the introduction of fish farming in the State aims at training indigenous communities on fish rearing to reduce dependency on imported fish.
“As citizens of a new independent nation, there is need for the people in the region to work hard and produce enough food for themselves,” Professor Lodu Bureng stated. He thanked the community of Gandaru Village for donating land for the project.
Meanwhile, the Acting Director General of the Directorate of Animal Resources and Fisheries, Mr. Soma Francis said the Fish Farm, which is the third project to be implemented in the State after poultry and goat rearing, will be extended to Yei, Kajo-Keji, Lainya, and Morobo counties.
The Director of Fisheries in Central Equatoria State, Morghan Bakheit Lukak said the project will succeed because of the availability of qualified staff and urged members of Gandaru Village Community to view Gandaru Fish Demonstration Farm as an opportunity to improve their livelihoods.
Gandaru Village has two Fish Ponds established in 2009 by the government. The experimental project was tested with fingerlings of tilapia Zilai species from Khartoum, but the fish did not grow to the expected size prompting the officials to turn to Uganda for fresh stocks of Tilapia Niloticus from Uganda.
Gandaru Fish Demonstration Ponds cover an area of 300 square meters. The water is being pumped from the River Nile. The 2,500 fingerlings are divided between the two fish ponds and will undergo intensive feeding for six months before harvesting.
