CAGE CULTURE TRIALS IN RWANDA

I. INTRODUCTION Cage culture of nile tilapia Oreochromisniloticus in Rwanda was first demonstrated in the early 1989. It was not until 2010, however, that commercial production of tilapia in cages started with very few cages in LakeRuhondo.The technology spread to nearly LakeBurera. Currently, there are about 400 cages in the two lakes. Cage culture has provided an innovative approach for fish production in these lakes. It has improved the use of natural resources by increasing the number of small scale operators that can use this technology reducing therefore the total number of capture fishermen and the pressure of fishing against tilapia. It has also contributed to the increment of fish production in Rwanda. As our human population continues to increase in the years to come, there will always be a pressing need for producing animal protein foods such as fish at low cost. With the availability of a domesticated fish like the tilapia for which its environment can be controlled, attaining national goal of self sufficiency in fish production seems achievable and tilapia cage culture production data in Rwanda is very encouraging as fish production is concerned. For further development of tilapia cage culture industry in Rwanda, three major areas are critical. These are: 1. The need for improvement of high quality fingerlings production and their regular availability 2. The commercial production of fish feeds for intensive culture and 3. The technical enforcement of cage culture operators.. Each of the three areas mentioned above is as important as each other. However in time (chronologically), the availability of high quality fingerlings is the most essential to cage culture farmers. They are the basic input which enables repetition of the production and regular supply of fish seeds is necessary to support any viable aquaculture industry and its development. Fish Food shortage is the other factor which is currently restricting the aquaculture industry in Rwanda. At present the only commercial fish food available to cage culture operators is imported from Uganda. The high cost of this imported commodity places it out of the reach of most small farmers and makes the food share of the fish production as high as 30% of the price of fish or of the production costs. There is need for the nascent cage aquaculture industry in Rwanda to learn from successes and failures of cage aquaculture in Africa and elsewhere. Improved cage culture technology, information and knowledge should be disseminated among operators to improve their skills.

II. PRELIMINARY FINDINGS FOR CAGE CULTURE TRIALS IN LAKE BURERA AND RUHONDO 1. Type of cages Cage culture trials have been conducted on LakeRuhondo and Bulerera from 2010.The first set of 30 cages was installed at LakeRuhondo in July 2010 while the second set of 40 cages was installed at both LakesRuhondo and Burera in December 2010. Cages used for tilapia production in these lakes are floating cages made up by floating frames from which the net cages are suspended. The net cages have a mesh size of 15 mm and are of the same size of 2 x 2 x 2 m, making a total volume of 8 m3 per cage.Cages are then tied up per group of 10 cages to make a stronger structure. The stocking density is 25 fish /m3. Each group of 10 cages receives 2000 fingerlings weighing 20 to 30 g in average. Figure 1: Design of Floating cage in Lake Burera.

The initial investment for cage operations includes expenses for nets, plastic drums and metallic/wood or bamboo posts for the framing of the cage. The investment includes also a guard house.The guard house which is used as a store is shared by all cage operators on site. That is the reason why its cost is not much as if it was built by each operator. The investment includes some equipment such as spoon nets, basins, balances and other small equipment necessary for fish handling. A total investment of 5 000 000rwf is required for a set of 10 cages of 8 m3 each.

2. Fingerlings supply Currently Tilapia fingerlings are only available through limited sources. Only one Government fish station supply fingerlings for ponds fish farmers, lakes and reservoirs fish stocking as well as for cage culture farmers. The government hatchery has potentiality to produce over 2 000 000 fingerlings per year yet this production is far below the demand.The current need for fish seeds of cages in lake Burera and Ruhondo equals 1 600 000 fingerling for the year 2012 without any expansion of cages. The price of a fingerling is subsidized and it is 11% of the price of fish.By the time being, the price of fingerling is not the crucial constrains of cage culture operations rather the availability of fingerlings at any time needed. For instance the year 2011, the demand of fingerlings was estimated at 1600000 for two production cycles. But only 140000 fingerlings (9%) were provided to stock 70 cages out of 345 cages present in the two lakes.Cage culture farmers must either produce their own seed or depend upon supply from other farmers being hatchery specialist or not. Increased consumption of tilapia will prompt rapid growth of tilapia culture industry and consequently increased demand for tilapia fingerlings. The involvement of private investors in tilapia hatcheries is crucial. With the full implementation of private tilapia hatcheries, fingerlings will be reliably available in large quantity, year-round, at a cost below 3% of the production cost without any subsidy. This supply of affordable high quality fingerlings will change dramatically the dynamics of cage culture farming. At the moment fingerlings are subsidized and cost of 220 rwf per fingerling. Stocking one set of cages costs 44 000 rwf.
3. Stocking rate.

The stocking density of all cages in Burera and Ruhondois 25fingerlings per cubic meter (25 fingerlings/ m3). Each group of 10 cages is stocked with 2 000 fingerlings. The average size of fingerlings stocked varies between 20 and 30 g. This low stocking rate compare to what is being applied in other countries in Africa (200 to 300 fingerlings / m3) is due to the uncertainty of cage culture production in Rwandan environment. It is wise to start with low densities and improving it along with cage culture technology skills enhancement. Furthermore the problem of fingerlingsavailability will become more pronounced with the increase of the stocking rate. The high mortality rate registered might have been caused by the sudden change of physicochemical characteristics of water from hatcherys ponds to the lakes environment. The Government fish station supplying fingerlings is situated at about 400 km away from the two lakes. In this area physic - chemical characteristics of water, temperature, pH, oxygen and any other water characteristics are different from those in the lakes. The mortality rate is high due to hatcheries that area located in different ecosystems than the final destination of fingerlings. At the present any cage culture initiatives will be severely limited by the availability of fingerlings. Even if available, it takes more than three months to get them delivered due to logistics arrangements. Given the enthusiasm shown in cage culture production in the two lakes,investments in improved fingerlings supply that will be needed for small-scale cage culture operators to succeed; operators may need to develop their own hatcheries in the proximity environment.

According to available literature, the minimum recommended stocking density for tilapia is 5080/m3. A recommended maximum stock density for beginning farmers is the number of fish/m 3

that will collectively weigh 150 kg/m3 when the fish reach a predetermined harvest size. The smallest recommended fingerling size for stocking is 20 g. A 20 g fish will be retained by a 15 mm mesh net. Stocking density calculation can be applied as the below equation:

4. Fish feeds. Supplemental feeding was distributed in the form of floating pelleted fish feed. This fish feed is imported from Ugachick Poultry Breeders Limited in Uganda. This floating fish feeds come into the marketas 24%, 30%, 35% protein on an as-fed basis. Pellets are 2,3,4,5, and 7mm sizes. The food was distributed daily. Some operators distributed once a day while some others distributed twice a day. The amount of food was adjusted according to the estimated biomass of fish present in each cage. The amount of food to distribute was 10% of fish biomass when the average weight of fish is less than 50g, 5 % when the weight is between 50 and 300g and 2% when fish weighted 300g and more. The total amount of fish feed distributed in each cagecage is shown in the table 1 below. Based on estimated amount of food distributed and the harvested biomass of fish, the average feed conversion ratio (FCR) which is the amount of feed required to produce 1 kg of fish is 1.85 (1.5 to 2). This means that it needs 1.85 kg of food to produce 1 kg of fish. This figure seems to be normal because the FCR in tilapia cage aquaculture systems in Africa is typically between 1.4 and 2.5. According to ugachickreports their fish feed has an FCR of 1.4.The higher figure of FCR of our trials may be the result of a miscalculation of the number of fish remaining in the cage due to the unrecorded mortality and therefore to the over-estimation of biomass present in cages. There is a need to review the sampling methodology and the mortality estimation approach. In our trials, the fish feeds accounts for 62% of the total production cost. Obtaining good quality locally made feed is the second priority for commercial cage culture in Rwanda after quality fingerlings production. The main inputs for the fish feed production is the high protein fish meal which can be obtained locally by fishing the haplochromis, drying it and ground it to make fish flour. Besides the haplochromis flour, the additional important raw material inputs is soybeans, which can be produced by local farmers at low price. Until this fish food shortage is addressed with a locally manufactured product, the cage culture potential of Rwanda cannot be realized. This issue can fully be addressed in long run with the construction of a pelleted fish food plant. This will result in a locally produced, high-quality, affordable and standardized pelletized fish feed that is specific to raising tilapia in Rwanda environmental conditions.All raw materials will be locally sourced, and all labor will be locally hired with the exception of a foreign ex-patriot fish food expert in the early stages of the project. Once the fish food plant is fully functional, the operation will be fully staffed with local employees, creating yet more jobs. In a short term period however, as raw materials are available locally atreasonable prices, it is possibleto makea moist sinking feed on site by mixing different identified components. The availability of such a fish food not only allows the blossoming of the cage culture potential in Rwanda, but also other employment opportunities in the agricultural and non agricultural areas. One kg of the imported fish feed costs 900 rwf.

Table 1 : Preliminary findings for cage culture trials in lake Burera and Ruhondo

Parameter Date of stocking Number of stocked fingerlings

Group 1 Dec 2010 2000

Group 2 Dec 2010 2000 25 480 183 2.5 1048

Group 3 Dec 2010 2000 22 478 185 3 .0 1240

Group 4 June 2011 2000 26 500 187 2.6 1066

Group 5 June 2011 2000 30 542 190 2.4 960

Group Group6 7 June June 2011 2011 2000 20 470 199 3.1 1410 2000 22 474 196 3.0 1332 29. 50 40 662.7 622.7 1059 1.7 40 44 631.368 587.368 999 1.7 33.

Average weight at stocking 20 Average weight at harvesting (g) 472 Grow Out (Days) Growth rate (GR:Kg/Day)* Number of fish at harvest Mortality rate (%) Total biomass stocked (kg) Total biomass Harvested (kg) Fish biomass gained Fish Feed distributed FCR** 192 3.1 1330 3 3.50 40 627.76 587.76 999 1.7

47 .60 50 503.04 453.04 906 2 00 44

38. .70 52 533 481 962 2

46 .00 60

52

592.72 548.72 988 1.8

520.32 460.32 921 2

*GR: The Growth rate is the total final weight of fish minus the total initial weight divided by number of days i **FCR: Food Conversion ratio is the quantity (Kg) of food required to produce one Kg of fish. Group 1,2,3 :Stocked in Dec 2010- Harvested in July 2011

5. Grow Out Two growth periods of more or less 6 months were observed. The first period started in December 2010 and ended in July2012 and the second one started in June 2011 and ended in

December 2012. Both periods had a grow out of 6 months. Table 1 shows data related to these growth periods. The average grow out period is 190 days. It varies from 183 days to 199 days for the 7 groups of cages. The production average production per cage is 579.4 kg. The highest production recorded is 662, 7 kg while the lowest is 503 kg. The specific growth rate (SGR) which is the average final weight of fish minus the average initial weight divided by number of days in the growth period varies between 2.4 to 3.1 with an average of 2.8 kg of fish mass increase per day per cage.The growth rate gives us an idea on how the used tilapia strain adapts to the new environment The optimum fingerling size for stocking in cages is determined by the length of the growing season and the desired market size.the shorter the growing season, the larger the fingerlingsmust be at stocking time.The use of male populations which grow at twice the rate of female populations will result in larger fish, greater production. The best size of harvesting should be around 400 500 g/fish as per the choice of Rwandan main consumers. Duration of the crop could be around 6 - 7 months. So in Rwanda cage culture farmers could get up to 2 crops a year.
6. Survival rate/ mortality rate.

This is in connection with the explanation given above on mortality rate. The survival rate in all cages is low (54.4%)due to the high mortality (46%) recorded at stocking time. It is thought that this high mortality is due to two main factors. The first one may be transport of fingerlings from the supply station which is about 400 km from the cage culture sites.The second reason may be the change of the growing environment. Fingerlings are grown in the southern part of Rwanda, an area which is warmer than the Northern part of the country where the cages are situated. The sudden transfer of fingerlings in these different environments may be the factor of this high mortality. Save this: cages with higher survival rate are logically the more productive with productions of more than 600 kg of fish per cage. Cage culture literature reports that the survival rate in smallholder tilapia cage culture is typically in the range of 70-80%, though survival rates as low as 60% have been associated with stocking densities in excess.We must find means of reducing this stocking mortality rate to less than 20%. It can happen if the Burera /Ruhondo cage culture operators are supplied from a nearby hatchery located in similar environment. 7. Harvest and Marketing The preferred size for fish in Rwanda market is between 400 and 500 g. With good management, it is expectedtoreach this size in 6 months. Sale prices vary according to size of fish. Fish weighing more than 500 g are sold for 3000 rwandanfrancs (5 US $) per kg, fish weighing 300-500 g are sold for 2000 rwf ($3.3) per kg. Fish weighing less than 300 g are difficult to sell and if they are sold it is at a cheaper price. There are mainly sold per pieces or they are consumed by the operators family members.

8. Cage culture farms Ownership Cages are owned on cooperative basis. In the early stages of the operation (project) cages were supplied to the farmers on an initial no-cost basis. After the first growing season and

harvest the farmer Cooperativesare expected to purchase other sets of cages to expand the operation. By running everything through the co-op, farmers will be certain to position themselves in the market and getting the best price for their fish. Also by allowing the farmers to concentrate their efforts on rearing the fish with the technical and logistical support of the cooperative, it is expected that the quality of fish can and will be optimized within the first year of operation. This will also ensure that there are adequate fish being produced to create an export market. With the vast water resources available, the ready supply of a good quality fish seeds and a huge market nearby in RDC there is no reason why Rwanda could not develop a huge export Tilapia industry.
9. Profitability of the operation. Fixed costs: As mentioned above, the fixed cost for cage operators are related to the investment of the platform of cages, equipment purchase, guard house and storage construction. The total investment cost is estimated at 500 000 000rwf per a set of 10 cages.Cages and guard house are amortized over 4 years.

Variable cost: Variable costs are related to fingerlings, feeds andlabor cost. Cost of Fingerlings, fishfeedand labor has been calculated and their amounts are shown in the table 1. Regarding labor costs, tilapia cage farms are usually family operated. Hired labor is employed only for cage construction and installation. Some farmers hired laborers to guard their cages. In the average, the total labor input per farm per 6 months is 104 man-days. The most labor intensive activity requiring 60 man days, is guarding the cages (6 months x 30 days/3 cage farmers). Another intensive activity in cage culture operationsis feeding and maintenance of the cages that required 42 man days (2 hours/day x 7 days /week x 4 weeks/month x 6 months). Harvesting and marketing count for 2 man days. A casual laborer works 8 hours a day and he is paid 1000 rwandan francs. The labor cost equals 104 x 1000=104 000 rwf.

Table 2: CAGE CULTURE PRODUCTION COSTS PER GROW OUT CYCLE

Parameter Group 1 Fingerlings cost rwf 44000 Amount of food distributed 999 Cost of food Labor cost rwf Total variable cost 899100 10,400 953500

Group 2 44000 906 815400 10,400 869800

Group 3 4000 988 889200 10,400 943600

Group 4 44000 962 865800 10,400 920200

Group 5 44000 921 828900 10,400 883300

Group 6 44000 1059 953100 10,400 1007500

Group 7 44000 999 899100 10,400 953500

Table 3: Economical analysis of cage culture in Ruhondo and Burera Lakes

Item Fixed costs rwf Variable costs rwf Total Costs rwf Biomass harvested Revenues rwf Gross Income rwf

Cage 1 500,000.0 953500 1453500 627.8 1, 883,280.0 429780

Cage 2 500,000.0 869800 1369800 503.0 1, 509,120.0 139320

Cage 3 5 00,000.0 943600 1443600 592.7 1,7 78,160.0 334560

Cage 4 500,000.0 920200 1420200 533.0 1, 599,000.0 178800

Cage 5 5 00,000.0 883300 1383300 520.3 1,56 0,960.0 177660

Cage 6 500,000.0 1007500 1507500 662.7 1, 988,100.0 480600

Cage 7 500,000.0 953500 1453500 631.4 1, 894,110.0 440610

Table 4:Production cost, revenues and return to investment per grow Out period Per cage culture farm of 10 cages,

Item Cage amortization Fingerlings cost Feed cost Labor cost Total costs Revenues Returns

Group 1 5 000 000 440000 8991000 104,000

Group 2 5 000 000 440 000 8154000 104,000

Group 3 5 000 000 440 000 8892000 104,000 14436000 17,781,600 3345600

Group 4 5 000 000 440 000 8658000 104,000 14202000 15,990,000 1788000

group 5 5 000 000 440 000 8289000 104,000 13833000 1 5,609,600 1776600

Group 6 5 000 000 440 000 9531000 104,000 15075000 19,881,000 4806000

Group 7 5 000 000 440 000 8991000 104,000 14535000 18,941,100 4406100

14535000 13698000 18,8 32,800.0 15,091,200 4297800 1393200

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Cage culture in Burera and Ruhondo Lakes shows encouraging perspectives for the future. The level of production achieved so far can be improved a lot by simply improving the techniques of cage culture technology. Three areas are however of concern. These are the availability of fingerlings, the provision of quality and affordable fish feed and the technical capacity building of cage culture operators. The problem of quality fish seeds and their availability could be solved by involving private fingerlings suppliers to complement the existinggovernment hatchery. The problem of fish feed which is the most acute problem could be solved by producing the food locally. It possible by scaling down the Kampala technology and setting up small scale fish feed production plants. Raw materials for high protein food are available with the provision of fish meal from haplochromis. The development of haplochromis capture fishing can avail as much fish flour as it is needed to cover cage culture farmers needs. In the two lakes it is possible to produce more than 1000 tons of fish per year. This target is achievable and we shall make it. Extension and capacity building The cage culture industry needs well trained extension personnel to support the development of a sustainable industry in Rwanda. There is need to build capacity of existing personnel and develop new capacity building programs at all level that will focus on training personnel to ensure sufficient skills in environmental regulation, cage culture technology development and business development facilitation and management. It is also essential to develop capacity of local institutions, private companies in business development services provision to the cage culture industry. Research.There is a need to enhance growth data collection by improving the sampling methodology and systematically collecting monthly measurement. This will significantly affects profitability by reducing feed wastage, increase feed conversion efficiencies and maximize growth.

COOPERATIVE 01 KOAKI 02 ISUGI COOPELRU SUGIRA RUHONDO 03 04 COOPEGIFRU 05 COOPERUS 06 KFCO 07 DUKUNDANE 08 COPEBU 09 CPLB 10 COVEPK 11 GUBWANEZA 12 TWONGERUMUSARURO 13 COOPESEKA 14 COPEGALARU 15 CODEPEGIRU 16 COUMURU 17 COOPERU 18 TERIMBEREKAREREMBA 19 INDERABUZIMA 20 AMAJYAMBERE IWACU 21 KUAFI 22 COOVEPOGA 23 COOPEGI 24 COODEPE 25 GIRAMAFI 26 ECOPRORENA 27 DUSABANE 28 TWONGERAMAFI 29 KO.NKU.KI 30 ATA 31 COOPEGA 32 TURWANYEBWAKI 33 RUHONDO BEACH RESORT GROUP 34 JYEJURU 35 SUSURUKA 36 GARUKA UREBE 37 ABIYUNZE TURWANYEBWAKI 38 COOPELACBU 39 STEPS DUFATANYE TOTAL 1 to 3: Cages units installed in December 2010

LAC RUHONDO RUHONDO RUHONDO BULERA BULERA BULERA BULERA BULERA BULERA BULERA BULERA BULERA BULERA BULERA BULERA BULERA BULERA BULERA BULERA BULERA BULERA RUHONDO RUHONDO BULERA BULERA RUHONDO BULERA BULERA BULERA BULERA RUHONDO BULERA RUHONDO MUHAZI RUHONDO RUHONDO RUHONDO BULERA RUHONDO

NOMBRE DE CAGES 10 10 10 5 10 5 10 10 5 5 10 10 10 10 10 5 5 10 10 5 10 5 10 10 10 10 10 10 5 5 5 10 10 20 10 10 10 10 10 345

4 to 39: Cages units installed in 2011 195 cages in Burera ; 130 cages in Ruhondo and 20 cages in Muhazi: Total: 345