THE Department of Fisheries in North-Western Province has bemoaned the low fish production by small and medium scale fish farmers in the region.

In an exclusive interview with ZANIS today, Provincial Principal Fisheries Officer Frank Chihana, said during the 1st and 3rd quarters of 2024 small and medium scale fish farmers produced 59.52 Metric Tonnes out of the 166.8Metric Tonnes target, representing 35.7percent.

Mr Chihana has attributed the low fish production   to insufficient production of fingerlings in the province and poor management of fish ponds as a result inadequate technical knowledge among small and medium scale fish farmers.

 He also disclosed that some Small and Medium scale fish farmers have been abandoning the ponds due to lack of funds.

“The inadequate funds by the small and medium scale is due to inadequate and lack of grant and credit facilities offering funds for aquaculture, also lack of access to Constituency Development Fund (CDF)  by the small and medium scale fish farmers,”he said. 

Mr Chihana further disclosed that much of the fish that the province consumes is either imported from other provinces or countries as the  ones captured from capture fisheries resources such as Lunga and Kabompo rivers as well as  other Small Water Bodies is not enough  to meet the demand. 

Mr Chihana has further appealed to the government to consider employing more extension officers adding that currently the Province has 25 officers working against over 1,600 fish farmers.

He said the extension officers should also be equipped with the right equipment and adequate transport for them to offer effective technical support to fish farmers in the province.

“Currently our officers do not have basic equipment like water checkers to enable them to perform their duties effectively. The same applies to transport, the province only has one vehicle and seven motorbikes which officers use to reach out to the fish farmers dotted across the province,” he said.

Mr Chihana has further proposed that the government should consider the provision of loans and grants under CDF to fish farmers saying that aquaculture is a profitable venture that can be used to empower citizens economically.

“World Vision has also supported the establishment of a fish hatchery in Zambezi, to address the challenge of long distance to Fish Hatcheries. For instance, farmers travel long distances like Solwezi in search of hatchery services. This will help minimise the transport cost on production as well as reduction in fingerling mortalities due to the long distance,” he said.

Mr Chihana added that the department is also in the process of operationalising Mushindamo Aquaculture Park and Kasempa Aquaculture Service Centre built with support from African Development Bank under Zambia Aquaculture Enterprise Development Project (ZAEDP).

He said once operationalised the facilities will resolve the challenge of fingerling shortage  as well serve as centres of excellence to provide the much needed technical support to the small and medium scale fish farmers,  hence enhancing fish production in the province.

“The aquaculture park and aquaculture service centre will enable the government  through  the Department of  Fisheries to  provide the much needed support of credit facility to the small and medium scale fish farmers by way of out grower scheme technology, they will also help reduce post-harvest losses due to the refrigeration facility,” he said.

Mr Chihana added that to enhance fish production, the department is also promoting cage fish farming in the province.