26 March 2009 Aquaculture in the Republic of Georgia Michael A. Rice1 The Republic of Georgia, a former Soviet Republic located in the Caucasus Region, gained its independence in 1991. Georgia has a total land area of 69,700 km2 with abundant water resources including a 310 km coastline on the Black Sea, numerous rivers with sources in the Greater and Lesser Caucasus mountain ranges and a number of lakes and reservoirs ranging from high alpine coolwater lakes to warm lowland river reservoirs (CIA 2007). Total aquaculture production was 72 t of fish, corresponding to US$191,000 (FAO 2005). A survey of farms that same year (Van Anrooy 2005) indicated that there were 81 fish farms and six fish hatcheries producing a number of fish species, including: Cyprinus carpio (common carp), Hypopthalmichthys mollitrix (silver carp), Ctenopharyngodon idella (grass carp), Oncorhyncus mykiss (rainbow trout), Capoeta capoeta (transcaucasian barb), Carassius carassius (crucian carp) and Siluris glanis (wels catfish). Despite the low production statistics reported FAO (2004), Van Anrooy (2005) reported that most of the aquaculture production consisted of stocking of about 600 t of common carp and 250 t of grass carp into lakes and reservoirs. Aquaculture began in Georgia during the 1930s Soviet era, largely focusing on stocking of carps into lakes, reservoirs and collective ponds. By the 1950s, there were about 50 aquaculture farms with a total pond surface area of 2,500 ha. Those farms included five hatcheries. During the 1960s through the 1980s the number of fish farms declined in number to below 20, largely a result of there being abundant fish from marine capture fisheries sources and imports (Van Anrooy et al. 2006). But during that same time period, interest in trout culture grew in the upland areas, focusing mainly on introduced rainbow trout, with most of the trout marketed in the capital city of Tbilisi. Important trout farms include the Akhaltsikhe trout farm and the trout farm at Akhalkalaki, in the Samtskhe-Dzhavakheti region. Both farms are along rivers flowing from the Lesser Caucasus mountains of southern Georgia. During the period since the 1991 independence of Georgia and subsequent economic reforms toward privatization took a further toll on the country’s aquaculture production. Many of the farms were turned over to individuals lacking the necessary skills and management experience necessary for growing or maintaining a successful aquaculture operation. As a result, production of commercially important species declined in the past decade from 300 t to about 50 t (Van Anrooy et al. 2006). The so-called ‘Rose Revolution’ of 2003 was a time of Fig. 1. Cultured brown trout, Salmo trutta, at the trout farm at Zvare, in the Keda region of Ajaria in southwestern Georgia. Photo by Michael A. Rice considerable political reorganization in Georgia and the fisheries sector was identified as an area within the Georgian economy that deserved some attention. As a result the Georgian government requested assistance from the FAO to strengthen the capacity of the Georgian Department of Fisheries in the Ministry of Agriculture so that they could better lead the rehabilitation of the fisheries and aquaculture industries. With the assistance of the FAO, the Department of Fisheries under the leadership of Director Dr. David Iakobidze developed an 11 point master plan for aquaculture development (2005-2020). Key features of the plan include: • Development of aquaculture as a keystone component of the fisheries sector; • Target production of 2,000 t annually, • Increase of the diversity of aquaculture species produced, • Establishment of an aquaculture industry trade organi-
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