Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Board (RAB) is constructing a national research and breeding centre so as to cut fish imports.
According to Solange Uwituze, the Deputy Director General in charge of animal resources development at RAB, the national indoor research and breeding centre "will enhance the availability of high-quality broodstock, reducing the reliance on imports, which often carries the risks of introducing diseases."
Located in Nyamagabe District, Southern Province, the ongoing project "aims to advance research in aquaculture, specifically focusing on the genetic improvement of locally available fish species."
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Once the centre is fully established, it will see the country's broodstock production projected to range between 1,000,000 and 3,000,000 per year. Broodstock, or broodfish, are a group of mature individuals used in aquaculture for breeding purposes. Their production could vary depending on the demand from local private hatcheries and market demand, the board said.
The research centre is also designed to help decrease foreign dependency, enhancing food security and creating job opportunities.
"It will ensure the availability of high-quality broodstock for private hatcheries, enabling them to produce superior fingerlings for fish farmers. This, in turn, will boost local fish production and improve access to fresh fish for Rwandan communities," she noted.
The move comes following the certification of six private tilapia hatcheries in Rwamagana, Kayonza, Bugesera, Gisagara, and Rusizi districts, to help local fish farmers get fingerlings.
"Access to young fish and fishing skills will essentially boost fish production and the industry at large," said Théobar Ahishakiye, the president of Fishing Nkombo, Nkanka, Gihundwe Cooperative (FINNKOAGI CO), one of the fishing cooperatives operating on the shores of Lake Kivu, in Rusizi District.
Lack of farm management skills is, for example, a critical challenge.
Themistocle Munyangeyo, the Managing Director of Fine Fish Ltd, a fish farming company in Rubavu District, said: "Inadquate skills is still a problem for those who are involved in the fishing industry, and it is not easy to find skilled workers.
"Universities and IPRC [Integrated Polytechnic Regional Centre] do not provide more internship opportunities to their respective students."
Access to fingerlings will highly contribute to achieving the national target where, for example, cage fish farming--a popular fish farming practice in open water--is projected to contribute up to 73 percent of the country's aquaculture production, with a target of 80,000 metric tonnes per year.
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ALSO: Fish production surges as Rwanda restores two lakes
Rwanda targets increasing fish production from the current 4,000 tonnes to 80,620 tonnes produced annually by 2035.
It is estimated that more than 106,000 tonnes of fish could be produced in Rwanda by 2035 under the National Aquaculture Strategy for Rwanda 2023-2035, of which around 80,620 tonnes will be from aquaculture, with an estimated 26,000 tonnes from wild fisheries.
