WWW.WA S .ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • JUNE 2022 27 Despite a significant annual Cape hake quota that fluctuates from around 100-140 thousand t/yr in South Africa, fish has become increasingly unaffordable for most food insecure households (THAPI Aqua-Kulcha 2021a). Wholesale prices of Cape hake, South Africa’s most favoured fish and chips choice, have climbed in recent years to above R45/kg (R15 = US$1) on a whole-weight basis. Similarly, retail prices of tinned pilchards, a national favourite food basket item, have climbed above R60/kg on a drained weight basis, putting food insecure households increasingly at risk of not being able to acquire adequate omega-3 fatty acids in their diets. Building on a concept vision sourced from private innovators —THAPI Aqua-Kulcha— identified through an open call for expressions of interest in 2019, the Eastern Cape Rural Development Agency (ECRDA) has taken the lead to address this undesirable fish supply situation by taking aim at an ambitious project to domesticate the local Mozambique tilapia Oreochromis mossambicus species for seawater culture in a project called the Marine Tilapia Industry (MTI). Over and above the MTI project being a response to a hake market that will growmore constraining in affordability, along with the threat of diminishing ocean stocks frommarine catches, this project aims to take advantage of the natural bounty that is the endowment of South Africa’s temperate seaboard stretching along the coastline of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces. The ambition is to establish and develop a veritable value chain for an industry that is intended to grow to a scale of 100,000 t of marine cultivated tilapia by 2035 (THAPI Aqua-Kulcha 2021b). The growth trajectory maps the course of an industry that will start with the establishment of a Marine Tilapia Industry Incubator in Mbhashe (MbMTII) as the base for growing a range of commercial clusters along the coastline of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal over the years. GSPublisherVersion 0.54.100.100 Tel: 0437354694 E-mail: el@tcnarch.co.za SCALE: DATE : 2021/09/27 REVISION DRAWING NO: DRAWN BY: INSERT NAME CHECKED BY: INSERT NAME PRINTINGDATE: 2021/09/27 DRAWING NAME MBASHE TILAPIA INDUSTRY INCUBATOR NEW AT MBASHE South Africa ISSUED FOR SKETCH PLAN SDP03 3D Mbhashe MarineTilapia Industry Incubator (MbMTII) The MbMTII will be situated at the Mbhashe Local Municipality coastline with a clear set of seeding and catalytic output objectives, including improved genetic lines of pure breeds of Mozambique tilapia and an ongoing human resource development program to feed into the commercial growth phases to follow. Why Tilapia and why Mozambique Tilapia in Particular? Mozambique tilapia are indigenous to the east coast territory of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal and as such the commercialization of marine tilapia aquaculture poses no biodiversity risks to endemic fish fauna. Mozambique tilapia are a low trophic level species with a highly efficient digestive system capable of good growth on animal-free, all-plant based feeds, therefore contributing to the alleviation of food insecurity due also to their low-cost production. Mozambique tilapia grow 1.66-2 times faster in seawater than they do in freshwater (Howerton et al. 1992, Kuwaye et al. 1993, Ron et al. 1995, Shepard et al. 1997, Sparks et al. 2002). Palatability of tilapia is improved when grown in seawater, on par with the best line fish, offering improved meat texture and flavour properties and therefore greater marketability. Sold as a marine fish, seawater-farmed Mozambique tilapia overcomes market biases favouring the consumption of marine fish in South Africa (Head et al. 1994, Infofish 2003, Fraga et al. 2015, Cheng et al. 2019, Cheng et al. 2020) Marine Tilapia — South Africa’s New Affordable Whitefish Alternative R. Kourie and N. Dladla FIGURE 1. A 3D generated architectural impression of the Mbhashe Marine Tilapia Industry Incubator (MbMTII) earmarked to produce 2,000 t of seawater-farmed Mozambique tilapia annually. FIGURE 2. Mozambique tilapia Oreochromis mossambicus harvested from a large-scale Biofloc Technology farming system in Malawi. ( C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 2 8 )
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