Aquaculture A Promising Solution For Haiti

Haiti - Agriculture : Aquaculture a promising solution for Haiti
(Haiti Libre) -09/03/2015 12:38:20

Natural stocks of fish in the sea decrease worldwide and fish farming is an economic opportunity, which is growing rapidly in many countries, especially in the Caribbean including Haiti, which has significant potential for aquaculture development and inland fisheries (lake fishing). After Cuba, Haiti is the Caribbean country that has the most inland resources, with 23,000 hectares of water bodies whose almost half is composed of freshwater lakes and the other half by Lake Azuei [brackish pond, 11,500 hectares].

Thanks to the various public and private investment, from 2011 to 2014, annual aquaculture production in Haiti, increased from 200 tonnes (mT) to 550 mT. The aim is to achieve in 5 years, 10,000 mT, almost 50% of the needs of the Haitian population and to reduce all foreign currency imports.

Action taken and results achieved :
The hill lakes construction program continued with the construction and development of more than a dozen lakes. The Ministry of Agriculture has strengthened its capacity to fry production in Pont Sondé station and wit the rehabilitation of aquaculture farms of Damien and Lully and provided technical support to several private investment projects in the sector amounted to ten million US dollars. A large project to produce tilapia in cage, funded by the private sector, with a capacity of 20 mT month, is seeing the day at the Lake Azuei...

Perspectives :

• With the intervention of the Ministry of Agriculture, production volumes and catches will increase from 600 mTto 10,000 mT annually and the income generated by this sector will increase from $ 3.6 million to $ 60 million per year in the next 5 years;
  
• Increase of the Exploitation of the potential of 23,000 acres of natural water body in the country ;
  
• Enhancement of 76 hill lakes and 2,000 acres of fish ponds ;
  
• Development of a national network of fry production composed of 4 major hatcheries and thirty satellite centers of production, to move from a current production of 3.5 million / year to 40 million fry / year ;
  
• Improve the conservation-processing system and the marketing of products of aquaculture and inland fisheries, through the installation of private and community centers of Products Processing