Presidential programme doles out 300 000 fingerlings

AT LEAST 300 000 fingerlings will be stocked for free in dams and fishponds countrywide under the Presidential Community Fisheries Scheme, which is designed to enhance food and nutrition security and improve the livelihoods of people living in rural areas.

Under the programme, about 1 200 dams have been certified for stocking with tilapia (breams), while all irrigation business units, youth business units, school business units and village business units are also set to benefit.

Local communities have received training on sustainable exploitation of the fish.

Dam committees have since been set up around various water bodies to cultivate a sense of ownership among community members.

Zimbabwe has an annual requirement of 60 000 tonnes of fish, while current production stands at around 33 000 tonnes.

Through the dam stocking initiative, it is expected that production will jump to 55 000 tonnes annually by next year.

Launching the programme at the Silalatshani Irrigation Scheme in Insiza, Matabeleland South province on Thursday, Fisheries and Aquaculture Resources Department director Mr Milton Makumbe said dam stocking is now at its peak.

“The current conditions are optimum for dam stocking and we have intensified our operations countrywide. We have at least 300 000 fingerlings, the bulk of which are temporarily housed at the Henderson Research Institute in Mazowe before further distribution,” said Mr Makumbe.

Of the total fingerlings, some will be stocked in dams for extensive multiplication, while others will be stocked in fish ponds and cages exclusively for food production.

Sexed fingerlings are an all-male population that restricts reproduction but boosts growth rate within a short period under controlled conditions like ponds and cages.

Unsexed fingerlings refer to mixed populations where intensive reproduction is encouraged to arrest the decline in fish populations for consumption by communities surrounding dams. The launch saw eight dams in Gwanda, Umzingwane and Insiza districts stocked with 5 000 unsexed fingerlings each.

Four individuals from Gwanda and Umzingwane had their ponds stocked with 2 000 sexed fingerlings each, while the Silalatshani Irrigation Business Unit also received 7 000 sexed fingerlings and their Silalatshani Dam got 5 000 unsexed fingerlings.