Govt.’s $58M shrimp ponds nearing completion

Dec 31, 2021 News

Kaieteur News – 0 The Ministry of Agriculture is pursuing 74 ponds to hopefully double the production of shrimp, by 2025, with its $58 million investment.

The brackish water shrimp ponds developed by the Ministry of Agriculture.

Yesterday, Kaieteur News was told that the project site is located along the Corentyne coast from the Berbice River Bridge to Number 49 Village, in Region Six.
Furthermore, it was related that the scope of works included the desilting of drainage and irrigation canals, pond preparation (that is building dams higher), removal of vegetation in the pond and desilting where possible.
Tubes were also installed to facilitate drainage and irrigation. The works are being completed by the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), as was related by a credible source.
The Ministry said that the project is specifically aimed at boosting the production of brackish water shrimp from 250,000 kilograms to 500,000 kilograms in four years’ time.
This is one of the measures the government has pursued amidst complaints of decreased seafood catch, by local fishers.
The Fisheries Department has teamed up with the NDIA to construct the 74 ponds for the rearing of brackish water shrimp.
According to Wikipedia, ‘brackish water’, also sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment having more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. Salt water is the ideal environment for the rearing of shrimp.
The subject Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, recently related that the project is about 85 percent complete.
He said, “To date, we’ve been able to complete construction of 63 ponds as part of phase one. The other 11 ponds are about 85 percent complete. For phase one, we are constructing 74.”
Mustapha added that persons have since reached out to the government and the Ministry is seeking to assist them with ponds, to further increase the production, as part of phase two of the initiative.
“Persons have since engaged us and we are looking at assisting them with ponds to increase their production as part of the second phase of the project. We are doing the earthworks and installation of tubes to assist with providing sufficient water supply to the ponds. Currently, there are three machines working at different locations to complete these works as soon as possible,” the minister explained.
Earlier this year, Mustapha touted the country’s potential to develop a thriving aquaculture sector, citing the availability of vast resources.
He noted, “Aquaculture in Guyana shows strong potential since the country has relatively large acres of flat lands with suitable soil types and access to large quantities and good quality freshwater (water conservancies)… more so, there are existing drainage and irrigation infrastructure in some areas, sub-tropical temperatures for shrimp and fish production and good availability of agriculture, more specifically fisheries by-products for the formulation and manufacturing of aquafeed”.
The government, through its updated inland and aquaculture strategy, 2021-2026, outlined its plans to address the challenges plaguing the aquaculture industry while creating an enabling and sustainable environment for investments. It said that the zoning of lands for aquaculture would allow investors to easily identify and access land.
Back in July of this year, Mustapha announced that the whopping $58M will be invested to improve the shrimp industry in Region Six.
In March, Minister Mustapha had engaged fisher folk and shrimp farmers at the Albion Sports Complex, Corentyne, Berbice, where he had stated that as part of President Irfaan Ali’s master plan for aquaculture, the necessary investments would be made to boost the industry. In light of this, Mustapha stated that the $58M would be expended to enhance and develop shrimp ponds throughout the Region as a means of increasing the annual production.