Govt. sinks US$133,000 into fish cage initiative

Sep 22, 2022 News

…deploys first two cages at Lake Mainstay

By Davina Bagot

Kaieteur News – The Ministry of Agriculture on Tuesday deployed Guyana’s first two marine cages at Lake Mainstay, Region Two.

The two marine cages set up at Lake Mainstay (photo credit: President Irfaan Ali Facebook page)

The fish cage that was supplied by a Brazilian firm. A total of eight structures were supplied, each costing about GYD$3.3 million (photo credit: President Irfaan Ali Facebook page)

The tambaqui species of fish to be reared at the first marine cage project

The announcement was made by President Irfaan Ali in a Facebook post. The Head of State also revealed that “similar cages are also being assembled for deployment at Lake Capoey,” another location in Region Two. Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha in an invited comment yesterday told Kaieteur News that a total of eight marine cages were purchased by Government to the tune of US$133,000 or approximately GYD$26.6 million.

Each of the structures measure 10 meters in diameter and 2.5 meters in depth, the Agriculture Minister pointed out. He went on to explain that two cages so far have been installed at Lake Mainstay while another three will be set up at Lake Capoey. The remaining three will be installed at other locations across the country.

In the meantime, he said that tenders will soon be invited for the supply of fingerlings which will be placed in the marine cages, to be managed by the respective villages. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries Department will aid in developing local capacity to man the marine cages. According to the Minister, “Mainstay was the first project and we believe this will definitely increase production because what we are looking at- one cage will start out with about approximately 3000 fingerlings so that will give us 6000 at this startup project.”

He said that the Ministry will be rearing the tambaqui species at the marine cages that have been deployed in Region Two so far. He said that this is a Brazilian species of fish that is popularly found in the Hinterland Rivers that is also a local delicacy. Mustapha was keen to note that Government is exploring the use of several other species such as tilapia, mullet and others.

Mustapha said the Ministry decided to develop tambaqui first as this has been proven to be more lucrative. He pointed out, “These are the initial phase as the President pointed out but we will continue to increase it to a number of locations across the country to supplement the village economies. We are now in the process of looking at more elaborate programmes…those areas were chosen as the first part but it will replicate at different parts.”

Minister Mustapha was keen to note that the project is geared at improving fish production and economic activity. Furthermore he contended that aquaculture is a very lucrative industry, explaining that Ecuador this year is poised to receive some US$7 billion from this sector alone.

To this end, he noted, “We have the potential in Guyana too. We have lots of fresh water we have lots of land space and the climatic condition is suitable so that is why as a Government we are looking at different options.”

The Minister assured that the other marine cages will be set up and deployed at three other locations before the end of this year. Not only that but he said, “This will be an ongoing process. Hundreds of cages will be set up around the country.”

This year, the Ministry of Agriculture was allocated $200 million to rollout the fish cage initiative geared at enhancing the production of prawns and tilapia among others. Minister of Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh in presenting the 2022 Budget said, “This will provide an important alternative production modality for Guyana’s fisherfolk.”

Since the startup of oil production in 2019, fishermen claim that their catches have decreased. A noticeable decline was documented in the Government’s own Half-Year Report published only recently.

The document explained that at half year in 2019, the fisheries sector accounted for 1.4% of the country’s total Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while in 2020, this reduced to 0.8%. In 2021, the sector’s performance at half-year was further reduced to 0.6% and in 2022 a slight increase was achieved as the fishing industry accounted for 0.7 percent of the total GDP.

In its Mid-Year Report, the Ministry of Finance said “Government’s investment in aquaculture infrastructure, and drainage and irrigations systems yielded an almost 300 percent increase in the production of brackish water shrimp in the first half of the year. This, however, was not sufficient to increase overall value added from the industry.” In light of the first half performance, the fishing industry is expected to contract by 29.8 percent this year, the report detailed.