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Recognizing these challenges and the need to promote
community-based aquaculture, SPC recently embarked on a
three-year project, funded under the Australian Centre for
International Agriculture Research (ACIAR), that addresses
some of the capacity constraints relating to community aqua-
culture, scaling-up of promising aquaculture industry sectors,
and the factors relating to greater uptake of aquaculture
among communities. It involves working with species that
are already being produced.
The aim is to develop profitable community aquaculture
systems, resulting in improvements in the value of aquacul-
ture production both in formal and non-formal economies
and improved nutrition and livelihood for people in marginal-
ized peri-urban or remote rural communities, through access
to aquaculture technologies and management systems that
would deliver meaningful benefits. This is achieved through
the following four objectives:
• address technical and capacity constraints in community
aquaculture
• apply and evaluate community-based approaches to
strengthen community impacts of small-scale aquaculture
• ascertain the impacts that community aquaculture can
have on household income, nutrition and the status of
women and children in the four countries
• integrate community sea cucumber aquaculture with
coastal fisheries management to strengthen community-
based fisheries management approaches.
Community-based aquaculture development in the Pacific
region is making good progress. Three top commodi-
ties, seaweed
(Kappaphycus alvarezii)
, freshwater prawns
(Macrobrachium rosenbergii)
and freshwater fish (mainly
Nile tilapia:
Oreochromis niloticus
) proved successful in
the region, contributing significantly to food security and
livelihood development for the Pacific people. Seaweed is
relatively low in value but high in socioeconomic impact
in remote and isolated areas of small island economies. It
is well established in Kiribati, Fiji, the Solomon Islands and
Papua New Guinea with a total annual production of 3,100
metric tonnes. Freshwater aquaculture (freshwater prawns
and tilapia fish), focusing on supplying fresh and nutritious
food to the rapidly growing rural and urban population,
is gaining popularity in community-based aquaculture
farming systems. In Fiji, there are approximately 300
tilapia farmers, out of which 50 are commercial farmers,
100 are semi-commercial farmers and 150 are subsistence
farmers. In 2009, tilapia production was estimated at 200
metric tonnes and valued at over US$1 million. The giant
freshwater prawn,
Macrobrachium rosenbergii
is another
commodity for Fiji, where production was recorded at
around 20 tonnes in 2011. In Vanuatu, the number of
community-based aquaculture farmers involved in tilapia
farming has increased from eight in 2012 to 53 in 2013. In
Papua New Guinea, there are more than 15,000 established
community-based aquaculture farmers. In Samoa there are
approximately 30 community farmers producing tilapia
using various systems from earthen ponds to concrete
raceways. National governments are starting to invest in
aquaculture from national budgets in areas such as improv-
ing infrastructure to increase seed production, and human
resources capacities.
Small- and medium-scale community-based aquaculture of
lower-value freshwater finfish (Nile tilapia, common carp and
milkfish among others) for food and nutrition security, which
historically was the initial reason to promote aquaculture in
the Pacific, is now gaining higher priority. This is particularly
so in places where there are significant urban or inland-rural
populations. The main reasons for this increased significance
of small-scale community-based aquaculture are the growing
urban and peri-urban population in many Pacific countries;
the increase in the acceptance of freshwater fish in Pacific
communities; and the decline in coastal fisheries, driven by
overfishing to feed increasing populations and loss of fish
habitat due to the impacts of climate change and habitat
degradation on coral reefs.
The Pacific people are traditional consumers of seafood,
which plays an important part in their diets and overall
wellness. Domestic market opportunities for aquaculture
remain strong, and the economic contribution that can be
made by import substitution is extremely significant, more
Small-scale tilapia farmers in the Tailevu area of Fiji with farm productions for 2012 and 2013
Source: FAME, SPC
Farmer
Pond area
Stocking size(g)
Stocking density Grow-out period Harvest size
Total production
Mosese Ratuki
3,500m
2
0.1g
5/m
2
6-8 months
180-300g
2,300kg/year
Abdul Saddiq
2,520m
2
2-3g
5/m
2
5-7 months
180-300g
2,800kg/year
Milito Sausau
5,000m
2
0.1g
5/m
2
5-7 months
200-300g
2,800kg/year
Arun Lata
2,100m
2
0.1g
5/m
2
7-8 months
180-300g
1,240kg/year
Myong Kim
6,000m
2
0.1g
5/m
2
8-12 months
100-200g
3,200kg/year
Mr Maika & Katarina 2,800m
2
0.1g
5/m
2
6-7 months
250-350g
2,600kg/year
D
eep
R
oots