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The aquaculture sector in Egypt Gianluigi Negroni
The aquaculture sector in Egypt
di Gianluigi Negroni
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Egyptian aquaculture, with an old tradition, has achieved very rapid developments in recent years showing a great development. As in many other country, aquaculture is considered the right path to supply the needed amount of high quality fi sh protein for the growing population. At national level, request of aquaculture products at an affordable price is increasing continuously. The production is boosted by an high demand and the development of all aquaculture value chain activities starting from seed and feed production and the technology support to the producers. New and modern feed mills and hatcheries provide the right inputs to the aquaculture industry. Egyptian aquaculture uses different aquaculture technologies as cages, tanks, semi-intensive, intensive culture in ponds, lagoon and extensive production systems. During the last years, it is possible to see a fast and large development in the Egyptian aquaculture; it must consider the sustainability and environmental consequences of the aquatic animals farming activities.
In Diagram 1 you can see that, after the years 2000, the fi shery capture production remains more or less constant, meanwhile the aquaculture has a steady increase arriving at more than 1,8 million Ton in 2017 and the trend is following in the last years. It is possible to clearly see in Diagram 2 the impressive aquaculture development arriving at more than 1,6 million tonnes in 2019 and the stabilised fi shery production. The fork between fi shery and aquaculture production has a clear increased trend. In fact the rapid development of aquaculture is related to the high fi shery product level of consumption in Egypt.
Table 1 can easily show the fi shery consumption level in Egypt and the huge fi shery product appetite of the Egyptian population. This table show the needs of fi shery products in Egypt with import and a per caput (Kg) fi sh consumption level increase. The available fi sh Kg per caput is higher than the world average. It is possible to note a small import regression in import and export in 2018 well recovered in 2019. The undersigned forecast a similar trend in the future years, more fi sh will be requested by the Egyptian consumers.
Tilapia is the main farmed species in Egypt (photo © www.skretting.com).
Diagram 1 – Total fi shery production increased from
43.900 tonnes in 1950 to 1.822.801 tonnes in 2017; rapid aquaculture growth together with stagnant and declined capture fi sheries production since the late 1990s until today
Source: FAO Global Fishery and Aquaculture Production Statistics v2019.1.0, published through Fish Statics (March 2019; www.fao.org/fi shery/statistics/software/ fi shstatj/en).
Diagram 2 – Annual trend of fi shery and aquaculture production 1991-2019 (years and MT production)
Source: GAFRD Fish statistic yearbook 2019. In red the aquaculture and in blue the fi shery production, the trend in the not dotted lines.
Country aquaculture value chain contest
The aquaculture production in Egypt is the largest in Africa: this data from some years see Egypt as main African producer, this show the magnitude not only at national level but also at continental level of the Egyptian aquaculture technology. It is possible to see in Diagram 3 the aquaculture production that reach more than 1.8 Million tonnes in 2018, according with FAO data. Moreover, the aquaculture production is till increasing in the last two years. The contribution of the aquaculture sector is not only for the food security but also makes a signifi cant contribution to the employment creation and per capita income along the aquaculture value chain.
The aquaculture value chain sector is developing for the last three decades and include fi sh farmers, traders/wholesalers, and retailers, without forget the inputs producers as feed and seed and the technical technology suppliers. There is also the public sector that provide R&D, extension services and training. Tilapia is the main farmed specie followed by mullet; they represent the backbone of production in Egypt. There are also small quantities of carp and catfi sh also contributing to farm production as some marine fi sh as seabass, seabream and meagre. Marine shrimp are also cultivated. Some interesting points could be considered along the aquaculture value-chain as follow: • farmed aquatic animals are sold in whole form; • farmed fi sh does not have any value-addition form; • the cold chain does not use ice in winter time but only in summer time fi sh are sold on ice; • there are growing trends to sell live fi sh as can provide higher prices; • very small quantity of aquaculture products is sold abroad against the total production; • the aquaculture value chain is short and not complicated; • the transport are generally very short, from harvest to the consumers with low post-harvest losses; • employment rate throughout the value-chain (equivalents every 100 tonnes of farmed fi sh along the value chain) is considered at around 14 full-time equivalents1 .
Female employment are particularly concentrated in the retail sub-sector.
Some key fi ndings from the data analysis made possible by the fi eldwork completed during the study are: • fi sh farmers due the short-supply chain, lack of export, lack of value addition obtain a high percentage (72%) of the fi nal consumer price; • feed costs represent a very high percentage in Egyptian aquaculture (67% of operational costs); • consequently from the above point, operational costs represent a very high percentage of total costs for all sub-sectors in the value-chain2 .
Several authors consider the industry is sustainable and generates profi ts, fi nance are an important issues along the aquaculture
in Egypt
Source: GAFRD Fish statistic yearbook 2019.
Diagram 4 – 2019 Catch % of fi shery (dark blue)
and aquaculture (light blue) production
Source: GAFRD Fish statistic yearbook 2019.
value chain. Moreover, same authors pointed that the aquaculture value chain upstream inputs cost and quality are considered as one of the critical points in the aquaculture value chain. These are impacting considerably on profi tability and industry effi ciency.
On the other side the downstream activities as the marketing, transportation and sale of product have actually less impact on the value chain. Anyway the fi sh feed market costs are increasing, prices have risen by 200-250% over the last 7 years (2004-2011)3. With regards to inputs the price and quality of fi sh feed have had a critical impact on costs and profi ts, as in many other countries. The consideration that the low quality of inputs particularly seed and feed provide some problem. Also the land availability (with quality water as there are many desert areas), the short lease periods, the lack of access to capital, the lack of electricity in some areas, the high fuel costs for generators and vehicles, are of considerable importance4 .
Aquaculture good management practices are lacking at farm level regards to feed management, farm design and construction, fi sh health management and stocking densities. Moreover we have a cold weather for 4 months per year that slow down the performances during the winter months; not all farmers use improved strain of aquatic animals (for example mono-sex tilapia) and there is lack of widespread aquaculture associationism. About the downstream section of the aquaculture value chain as marketing and distribution there are other critical factors as: • not high request of value added products; • declining prices in real terms; • preferences on wild fi sh; • prices with fl uctuation per season and zones (for example end of the year with lower prices and the main harvest time); • low aquaculture fi sh food safety along the downstream value chain (harvesting, processing and marketing);no value add and small export of aquaculture products; • some areas has a poor road network to join the urban market areas5 .
The sector can develop with more effi cacy and effi ciency if the private and public sector will collaborate and provide the needed investment along the Egyptian aquaculture value chain. Civil society, the international investor and development agencies will have their own role in the near future development and increasing performances of the Egyptian aquaculture. In Table 2 is possible to see the performances of the Egyptian fi shery and aquaculture value chain. It is very clear as the fi shery remain stable and the aquaculture production increase strongly. Moreover, the per capita fi sh consumption arrive at more than 21 Kg per year per capita in 2016, showing the need of aquaculture production in absence of the fi shery products. Farmed fi sh is more than 80% of the total fi shery product consumption. In Egypt the main farming production belong from freshwater species; tilapia is the dominant specie. In 2016 it accounted for more than two thirds of all fi sh produced through aquaculture in the country (Diagram 6). Other important species/groups include carps (Cyprinids, mainly common carp and grass carp/ Ctenopharyngodon
Table 1 – Fishery consumption level in Egypt
Item 2017 2018 2019 Change 2018-2019
Fishery exports / MT 35.110 26.298 35.009 +8.711 Fishery imports / MT 366.548 181.868 505.091 +181.868 Total available fi sh Kg per caput* 22,72 22,98 25,38 +2,40 * Domestic production – Exports + Imports and population estimates). Origin: Central Agency for Public Mobilization Statistic (CAMPS) and GAFRD Fish statistic yearbook 2018 and 2019.
Table 2 – Key statistics fi sheries and aquaculture in Egypt
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Fisheries (1000 t) 372 374 387 385 375 354 357 345 344 336 Aquaculture (1000 t) 636 694 705 922 987 1,018 1,098 1,137 1,175 1,371 Total fi sheries production (1000 t) 1,008 1,068 1,093 1,307 1,362 1,372 1,454 1,482 1,519 1,706 Farmed fi sh (% of total) 62.9 64.8 64.4 70.3 72.4 74.2 75.5 76.7 77.3 80.3 Fish imports (1000 t) 258.9 136.8 135.5 256.8 182.2 335.0 236.0 354.6 296.1 311.1 Fish exports (1000 t) 4.4 6.7 7.6 10.6 9.5 16.0 20.0 28.0 19.7 47.8 Fish farming (% of total consumption) 50.2 57.8 57.6 59.2 64.2 60.0 65.7 62.9 65.4 69.6 Local Fisheries Supply (Kg/cap/yr) 13.50 14.13 14.13 16.44 16.82 16.48 16.94 16.75 16.85 18.22 Local and Imported Fish. Supply (Kg/cap/yr) 16.98 15.95 15.89 19.70 19.09 20.55 19.73 23.47 20.83 21.64 Source: GAFRD, 2018. Fishery statistics year book 2016. General Authority for Fish Resources Development. Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, Cairo, Egypt.
Idella, 15%), mullet (Mugilidae spp, 11%) and catfi sh (Clarias spp, 1%). Bass and bream accounted for 4% meanwhile meagre for 1%. Egypt is the third largest tilapia producer in aquaculture globally (after China and Indonesia) and the largest producer of mullet. Earth ponds is the dominant production system (acwithout ice),and also are typically in possession of the fi sh for a day. On average retailers have an average sales volume of 65 t7. It is possible to understand the average Egyptian species production calculated on the total production; there are huge production variation between the various farming system (Diagram 7).
counting for 86% of total production in 2016), followed by cages (12.8%)6 . Fish farms distribute fi sh to traders and wholesalers. These larger traders distribute fi sh to retailers and food service (e.g. restaurants) usually within 1 day from purchase. Retailers sell directly to domestic consumers live or fresh fi sh (with or
COMMERCIO ALL’INGROSSO E LAVORAZIONE DI PRODOTTI ITTICI FRESCHI NAZIONALI
Diagram 5 – Aquaculture value chain in Egypt
and linkages among the main actors
Source: Macfadyen, G., Mohamed Nasr-Allah, A., Dickson, M., 2012a. The market for Egyptian farmed fi sh. World Fish Centre, Egypt, doi.org/10.13140/2.1.2060.6409. 43 pp.
Diagram 6 – Fish species produced through
aquaculture in 2016
Source: Aquaculture Elsevier- Ahmed Nasr-Allaha et al. 2020.
Diagram 7 – Fish yield (kg/ha)
Source: Aquaculture, 2020 – Employment generation in the Egyptian aquaculture value chain: implications for meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Aquaculture system
But there are also different levels of extensive and intensive system with a different inputs use (feed, oxygen, number of fry and fi ngerling and selected fry for example). More intensive system with pond of 0,3/0,6 Ha with concrete or plastic lined ponds are increasing in number substituting the more extensive one. There is also fl oating cage systems particularly in the Northern Nile catchment river. In more intensive system the production can reach high production per Ha (14-25 Ton/ Year)8. In satellite pictures, you can see several examples of extensive, semi-intensive and intensive farm as cages and desert area farm.
Semi-intensive The most used aquaculture system in Egypt is the semi-intensive pond (2-8 Ha) aquaculture mainly located in the Nile delta with both brackish and freshwater. The farms utilizes both brackish and freshwater. There are a large variety of inputs in the farm as stocking densities, energy input, level of management as well as the size and type of infrastructures. It is interesting to know that Government and private farm apply for semi-intensive system from 2014 as GAFRD statistic declared. As already cited the Egyptian aquaculture sector is still working with low level inputs and can perform more in the future. It is interesting to note that the main production originates form the extensive and semi-intensive private aquaculture farms, followed by cage farms and we have few more intensive farms (intensive, cage and in pond) Integrated rice cum fi sh farming system is increasing nìbut still with low production level.
Semi intensive fi sh farm in Kefr El-Shiekh Governorate
Many cage farmers operate in the lower reach of Nile river in El Beheira and Kafr El-Sheikh with tilapia as main specie, mullets and fi lter feeding carps.
Intensive aquaculture Due to the aquaculture intensifi cation and the limited amount of
Selected satellite images of cage aquaculture in Nile River.
available water Intensive pond aquaculture is now expanding. It is replacing semi-intensive ponds in many areas. The intensive pond are well designed earthen ponds and of smaller surface (0.3 to 0.6 hectares, sometimes lined with polyethylene sheets). They have higher dikes allowing water depths to reach 1.5-1.75 meters. If the electrical network is available some ponds are aerated with electrical paddle wheels and have a higher rate of water renewal (between 2-10% per day). The intensive pond production is higher but also the input are more (hectare of 14-25 tonnes generally tilapia, mullets). Sometime the intensive pond are built in concrete tanks also with integrated aquaculture and desert agriculture systems. It is possible to have higher economic rate of return and the most appropriate water use9 .
Cage culture The Northern branch of Nile Delta is a common place for cage culture for its slow water motion and yearly constant water availability as you can see in the satellite pictures as the freshwater and brackish water lake. Cage are less common at sea as there are higher investment or have sea resistant structures and related mooring10 .
Poly cum fi sh farming system Rice polyculture is practiced from the mid ‘80s in Egypt. Rice cum farming system is applied in the available large rice irrigation scheme and produce interesting fi sh harvest according with the water availability. It is infl uenced by the rice fi eld acreage fl uctuation and yearly water budget availability. Some subsidies help this activity especially to buy the fi ngerling by the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation11. The rice fi eld need some more deeper channel and refuge zone to be productive with the use of tilapia, African catfi sh and carp species. Production increase every year.
Desert farming There are lake and subterranean pumped water and it is utilised in the desert aquaculture. Generally the pumped water it is recycled for the irrigation system after to be used in the pond sometimes in intensive system. Desert Aquaculture started already using the desert well and the saline lake in the desert, it is considered more intensive as the water is scarce in these areas, the farm water is also used for irrigation.
Marine aquaculture Marine aquaculture is in its fi rst stage of development due to their higher investment cost, it is developed at sea or in pond and the brackish water lake with sea bass, bream, penaeid shrimp and maigre originating form Mediterranean coastline. GAFRD
declare in 2019 a presence of 62 wild fry collection centres and 304 hatcheries, mainly of freshwater fi sh as carp and tilapia. Few marine hatcheries are operative as you can see in Table 4.
The aquaculture development is attracting a lot of investor interest during the last years, many fresh and brackish water fi sh farm are planned, despite there are many areas already used for aquaculture ponds. In fact it is searched an intensifi cation in aquaculture technologies to convert the traditional farms in more intensive. Moreover, due to the agriculture competition on the same land suitable for aquaculture there are some decree limiting public land leases for aquaculture to a maximum of 10 hectares. Furthermore, a land lease contract is valid for fi ve years and renewal is dependent on conditions set by GAFRD. Finally it is possible to see in Table 5 the aquaculture production divided by the fi sh species in Egypt, to have a more clear idea about the Egyptian production volumes. In Diagram 8, it is possible to see that the main aquaculture production volume is originating by Tilapia, immediately followed by mullet and carps. There are mainly farmed in extensive and semi-intensive system. All the other species together are less than the 10% of the total production. Moreover the tilapia and mullet fi ngerling are also originated by the wild catching.
Aquaculture potential and the way forward in Egypt
The available Egyptian natural resources provide a large potential for aquaculture due to: • the long seashores bordering the north and east coasts of the country; • the long river Nile crossing the country from the high dam at south to the Mediterranean sea at the north; • the numerous small branches making a large net of water stream either supplying the lands by irrigated or draining water, and some big lakes with brackish water scattered all over the country; • fi sh culture systems are increasingly intensive, largely due to the shortage of water and land and labour resources availability.
Meanwhile there still are a large extensive and semi-intensive operation; • it is well known that there is also a need in Egypt for quick
Integrated rice cum farming system. All farming system pictures from aquaculture grow potential in Egypt, WAPI factsheet to facilitate evidencebased policy making and sector management in aquaculture March 2020.
production of market-size fi sh to meet the demand of an increasing population; • availability of aquaculture products high value protein as a relatively cheap source of animal protein is a necessity in Egypt12 .
The majority of fi sh farms in
Table 3 – Different aquaculture production level production in Egypt in Metric Ton (MT)
Aquaculture farming system 2017 MT 2018 MT 2019 MT
Government farms 12.190 13.652 12.611 Private farms 1.260.735 1.368.314 1.410.017 Intensive 1.912 2.324 2.420 Cages 169.269 165.352 200.980 In pond recirculation system* 0 18 28 Integrated rice cum fi sh farming system 7.735 11.797 15.893 Source: GAFRD Fish statistic yearbook 2018 and 2019. *Not present in 2017.
Table 4 – Hatchery production of marine fi sh fi ngerling (Million Unit)
Governorate European seabass Gilthered seabream Shrimp (Penaeus japonicus)
Alexandria 2.500 0.500 –Ismaila 2.000 5.000 1.500 Suez 0.500 – –Port Said – – 5.000
Total 5.000 5.500 6.500
Source: GAFRD Fish statistic yearbook 2019.
Egypt can be classifi ed as semiintensive brackish water pond farms; there were some problem in the early 1990s as a result of the competition for land and water from the expansion of land reclamation activities for agriculture.
Intensive aquaculture, in earthen ponds and tanks, is now developing rapidly to counter act the reduction in the total area available for aquaculture activity13. The government develop some major projects including: The National Project for Marine Aquaculture in the Suez Canal, Ghalioun Lake Project in Kafr El Sheikh and the National Project for Developing East Port Said. The aquaculture value chain was enriched by the downstream and upstream aquaculture inputs industries with their rapid expansion such as feed mills, hatcheries and marketing structures. Damietta and Fayoum are responsible for more than 80% of the Egyptian aquaculture output14 .
Way forward Several authors defi ne and propose some activities to enhance the fi sh farming and to have an impact on the aquaculture communities. They are the following: • selected tilapia strains adapted to the local environmental situation and with higher growth rates and yields; • hatchery fry and juvenile availability in quantity and quality; • feed and feed component availability for the most important marine farmed species; • BMP (Best management Practices) training; • increased collaboration with
gender and youth fi sh retailers; • use of better feed and green water (IBRAHIM et al.,2019; EL AZZAZY et al., 2018; DICKSON et al., 2016); • aquaculture value chain organisation (i.e. contract service, cooperative organisation, association, credit system for micro and SME enterprises…); • processing value add and marketing15 .
The above proposed point could
species
Farmed fi sh, common name Total Egyptian production / MT
Tilapia nei 1.081.202 Mullets nei 243.974 Carps* 216.671 Gilthered seabream 35.880 European seabass 30.313 Meagre 25.320 Catfi shes 8.454 Shrimps nei 123 Ells nei 4 Bagrus spp (Clarias spp) 5 Total 1.641.949 Source: GAFRD Fish statistic yearbook 2019. *Common and silver carp.
considerably increase the aquaculture value chain production with increased inclusion of the less favourites stakeholders categories.
Aquaculture cultured species in Egypt
According with FAO there are different species actually cultured in Egypt: Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), Red tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus x Oreochromis niloticus), North African catfi sh (Clarias gariepinus), fl athead grey mullet (Mugil cephalus), thinlip mullet (Liza ramada), bluespot mullet (Valamugil seheli), European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax), gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata), meagre (Argyrosomus regius) and penaeid shrimp. Some are introducing species that are: common carp (Cyprinus carpio), grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus), silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix), bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis), black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus) and the giant river freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) and a number of ornamental species, mainly koi (Cyprinus spp.), fantail (koi variety) and molly (Poecillia spp.)16. Mullet farming still depends on the collection of seed from the wild, meanwhile there are specialised hatcheries for the other species. There are different species of cultured mullet, the actual cultured species of mullet include fl at-head gray mullet (Mugil cephalus, LIN-
Diagram 8– Aquaculture production trend in Egypt 2010-2019
Source: GAFRD Fish statistic yearbook 2019.
Table 6 – Institutional framework
Source: value chain analysis of Egyptian aquaculture, World Fish Project Report 2011-54. NEUS 1758), thin-lipped mullet (Liza ramada, RISSO 1827), thick-lip gray mullet (Chelon labrosus, RISSO 1827), black keeled mullet (Liza carinata, VALENCIENNES, 1836) golden gray mullet (Liza aurata, RISSO 1827), leaping mullet (Liza saliens, RISSO 1810) and bluespot mullet (Valamugil seheli, FORSSKÅL, 1775)17. The source of mullet fry is from the wild and then stocked in lake in polyculture with other species or in monoculture.
The Egypt aquaculture human resources
According with some authors18 , 580,000 persons work in the aquaculture value chain, including upstream and downstream aquaculture activities. It could be some overestimation as some of them are only part time or seasonal worker. It is possible to divide in four main groups19 the aquaculture Egyptian human resources: • land owners and entrepreneurship with land title to make aquaculture activities. They can be divided in artisanal at family level and commercial more industrialized; • trained worker, skilled labour and the technician working in hatchery, intensive pond, cage farms; • staff working at Government run hatcheries, fry collection stations, juvenile production facilities and fi sh farms, is considered the third group; • the fourth group includes consultants, feed mill staff, engineers, transport, processing and other value chain support activities.
The institutional framework
The Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation has The General Authority for Fish Resources Development (GAFRD), as subsidiary. GAFRD is responsible for all planning and control activities related to fi sh production and the fi shery food safety Competent Authority in charge of applying the 1983 Fisheries Law No.124. GAFRD provides aquaculture degrees and regulation. GAFRD main offi ce is located in Cairo and has also three branches located in the three main aquaculture
Image 1 (source: FAO elaboration-Google Egypt map, 2010).
Competent Authority nominated by the Government to be responsible for certifi cation of food safety conditions for export of fi shery products to the EU. The Fish Inspection Unit is the acting body responsible for fi shery and aquaculture products food safety (supervising, revising, and enforcing conditions and procedures pertaining to exporting fi sh and marine products). It works in coordination with the Central Administration of Veterinary Quarantine and Inspections. In this respect it is responsible for implementing the Joint Ministerial Decree No. (1909/2001) Regarding Regulations and Procedures Related to Fish and Marine Products Exports to European Union Countries.
Farming system distribution and characteristic
Fish farming in Egypt is strongly concentrated in low-lying land around the northern lakes21. Most aquaculture activities are generally located in the Northern Nile Delta Region, with fi sh farms usually found clustered in the areas surrounding the four Delta Lakes (MARUIT, EDKO, BORULS and MANZALA). Fish hatcheries are also generally located in the vicinity of the fi sh farms except for fi ve large Government hatcheries scattered along the course of the Nile in Upper Egypt. The distribution of aquaculture units is shown as blue circles in Image 1. Freshwater aquaculture is very well developed in Egypt, making it by far the largest producer in Africa and in the Mediterranean area as well.
Some specifi c consideration on marine Aquaculture in Egypt
The brackish natural coastal lagoons and man-made ponds are the main marine aquaculture system until now and could be practiced in more modern standards. The most farmed species are the grey mullets (Mugil cephalus) and Liza spp (Mugilidae) (wild fry captured), then in much smaller quantities, the Sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) the Gilthered sea-bream (Sparus aurata) the meagre (Argyrosomum regius) and even smaller quantities of Penaeus shrimp. The grey mullets originated from the wild and then stocked in ponds, sometime are used as fodder fi sh for carnivorous species as Meagre that is also reared with so called “trash fi sh”. The situation is confl ictual between small scale fi shermen and the aquaculture sector as the fi shery-capture aquaculture has a negative impact on the coastal lagoon and marine fi shery. It is considering at a primitive fi rst step before developing a professional fi sh farming system with fry and fi ngerling availability from hatcheries. Additional problem includes the collecting of fry with small mesh net collect also not targeted species, illegal fi shing is also rampant due the high fry request. Live tilapia juveniles are also collected as trash fi sh for farmed carnivorous species as sea bass and meagre. This practice is not sustainable. The above aquaculture practices belong from different situations: • availability and quality of marine species particularly for grey mullets and meagre, in the last time sea bass and bream are hatchery produced; • availability of marine aquaculture artifi cial feed and related services; • feed and feed component import stock availability, interruption of import could happen due to several reasons.
The marine cage system suffer more than other pond system as the fi sh cannot use the natural production as freshwater fi sh (Tilapia and carp) in pond system. Then there is another problem that is the authorization to make aquaculture activities (marine cage and inland) is complicated due the competition to other activities as tourism, agriculture, infrastructures.
This problem could be solved with appropriate planning and easy licenses (single windows/one shop stop) releasing for specifi c areas already planned for aquaculture and particularly marine aquaculture.
Other common problems during the process of marine aquaculture developing in Egypt could be: • investor attraction with clear procedures to develop a marine fi sh farming and related logistic and fi nancial support for investment; • some fi sh feed plant must be specialized for marine fi sh farming with availability of specifi c component (i.e. fi sh meal and other protein components); • Egyptian consumers low appeal for marine farmed fi sh against
Table 7 – Main aquaculture sector legislation
Legislation Description
Law No. 124/1983 concerning fi shing and regulation of aquaculture. This is the main legislation regulating fi shing in general and aquaculture in particular. The law stipulates aquaculture requirements. It prohibits establishment of fi sh farms except in fallow land not suitable for agriculture and decrees that it could only use water from lakes or nearby canals.
Minister of Agriculture Decree No. 303/1987 concerning issue of executive regulation for Law No. 124/1983. This is the executive regulation for the law regulating fi shing and aquaculture. The decree regulates fi sh farms including procedures, fees, competent authorities for issuing license, time for submitting documents and complying with all required conditions. According to this decree, it not allowed to harvest or sell tilapia less than 10 cm length.
Minister of Agriculture Decree No. 447/2012 concerning amendment of the executive regulation of fi sheries and aquaculture law, issued by Decree No. 303/1987. Minister of Agriculture Decree No. 2655/2003 concerning prohibition of use of the hormone of 17 alpha methyl testosterone to produce unisex tilapia.
Law No. 123/1983 concerning aquatic cooperatives. The decree included amendments to regulation of fi shing and added some conditions and controls for fi shing craft in internal lakes.
The decree prohibits use of hormone of 17 alpha methyl testosterone to produce unisex tilapia in government owned and private hatcheries to protect consumers from the residues of the hormone in fi sh.
Aquaculture Cooperatives
The law regulates the work of aquatic cooperatives which are overseen by GAFRD. The law includes provisions regarding the functions of cooperatives; their funding; establishment procedures; functions of members, as well as their rights and duties.
Minister of Agriculture Decree No. 181/1984 concerning issue of executive regulation for Law No. 123/1983.
Law No. 48/1982 concerning protection of the River Nile and water channels from pollution.
Minister of Irrigation Decree No. 92/2013 concerning amendment of executive regulation of the law for protection of water and canals from pollution, issued by Decree No. 402/2009. This is the executive regulation for the law concerning aquatic union cooperatives specifying procedures to establish fi sheries cooperatives, their sources of funding, and other details that have not been specifi ed by the law.
Water and Irrigation
The law prohibits disposal in the water channels of solid, liquid, or gaseous wastes from: real estates, shops or commercial, industrial, touristic establishments or from the sanitary drainage, without a license from the Ministry of Irrigation which will issue a decree based upon recommendation of the Ministry of Health setting the measures and specifi cations concerning each case separately after taking samples and testing them. The Ministry of Irrigation is the only authority responsible for providing the license in question.
The decree relaxes restriction for aquaculture discharge in canals.
Environment
Law No.9/2009 concerning amendment of environment Law No. 4/1994.
Prime Minister Decree No. 338/1995 concerning executive regulation of environment Law No. 4/1994. Law No. 4/1994 established the EEAA and sets out its functions. The Authority is concerned, according to the law, with laying out the general policy for environment protection and development and monitoring its implementation with the concerned authorities. The law stipulates the need to conduct an EIA study before establishing certain projects. The executive regulation lays out the composition and functions of the board of directors of EEAA. It also provides for establishment of a fund for environment protection. Furthermore, it lays out the environmental requirements and conditions that enterprises have to follow.
Prime Minister Decree No. 1741/2005 concerning amendment of some provisions of Prime Minister Decree No. 338/1995 concerning executive regulation of environment Law. Amendments include modifi cations to some defi nitions and licensing procedures for enterprises that have hazardous waste and ways to deal with this waste. The decree also prohibits establishment of any enterprises along Egyptian coastal shores for 200m to the inside except after the approval of the Authority for Shore Protection in coordination with Ministry of Environment.
Lease of land
Law No. 89/1998 concerning government bids and tenders The law governs all government transactions and contracts and sets the rules for fi nancial transactions that are not otherwise regulated by another legislation. The law stipulates that rent or leasehold will be to a legal person through a public auction for transactions of a value more than LE50,000. For lower values it could be by restricted tender.
GAFRD Decision No. 70/1986 concerning rent and allocation of GAFRD land. According to the decision, a committee under GAFRD will determine locations suitable for aquaculture and establishment of hatcheries and dividing them into areas suitable for economic use in these activities. Land is then assigned based on a tender between applicants except in the following cases where the decision is not applicable.
Minister of Agriculture Decree No. 1132/2007 concerning offering aquaculture and hatcheries overseen by GAFRD for rent or lease-holding.
According to the decree, fi sh farms and hatcheries overseen by GAFRD are offered for rent or lease in public auctions for a period, or periods, that should not exceed a maximum of 25 years subject to the condition that the tenant should expand vertically in fi sh production using culture or hatchery productivity techniques and establishing the necessary infrastructure to achieve this objective. GAFRD conducts periodic reviews at the end of each lease period to renew the contract. The value of leasehold is reviewed based on prevalent prices. GAFRD has the right to break the contact and reoffer the farm or hatchery in public auction. Source: Institutional, Policy and Regulatory Framework for Sustainable Development of the Egyptian Aquaculture sector, World fi sh 2013.
Diagram 9 – Sales
Source: GAFRD 2021, National aquaculture in Egypt.
the captured fi sh; • market absence of processed fi sh and related processing plant (no freezing capacity); • low level of fi shery food safety standards and related market control; • outdated fi shery legislation, rules and regulation that push the operators to the informal sector; • low associationism organizations that difficulty provides appropriate collaboration for the producers.
GAFRD strategy (National aquaculture in Egypt, dott. Ahmed Saney)
GAFRD set out a policy for the development of the fi sheries and aquaculture sector in Egypt from 2017 until 2021. Environmentally compatible aquaculture systems is the overall aim of the GAFRD policy. The main points of the policy are the following: • to increase the return on fi sh resources; • reach annual production of 2 million tons “an annual per capita of local fi sh production which amounts to 20.26 kg” by 2019 (reached to this target by 2019); • to maintain per capita of fi sh production given the growing population; • improve fi sh products from various sources to be compatible with international requirements; • support marine aquaculture.
The policy has 3 major objectives: 1. natural fi sheries to achieve sustainability; 2. maximize revenues from aqua-
culture projects, especially water resources. Incentive of the private and cooperative sector also with applied research projects; 3. GAFRD strengthening of institutional structures, particularly on the enforcement of fi shery/ aquaculture rule and regulation and extension services.
Development of the marine aquaculture sector with specialised feed and seed production
More than 110 thousands hectares are used to produce protein of fi sh and shrimp with about 80.5% of total Egyptian production of aquatic animals (GAFRD 2020). The main aquaculture industry is the Nile tilapia and their fi ngerling are produced in hatcheries (private and public) they collect brood stock from the lake and river and state hatcheries. The state hatcheries also produce Chinese carps fry: mirror carp, silver carp and grass carp which are obtained to farmer including rice-cum-carp project for free or sell to them. During the last 20 years fi sh farming had a huge breakthrough, its production up from 2003 about 445 thousands ton to 2019 about 1.64 million ton because of the monosex technique that is used in Nile tilapia fi sh hatcheries. Shrimp farms need improvement for different reasons as the low growth rate of native ones Penaeus kerathurus, Penaeus semisulcatus, and Penaeus japonicas or the low virus (white spot disease) resistance of introduced Penaeus indicus. During the last year Penaeus vannamei was introduced for its easier farming and domestication.
Wild fry collection
The wild fry collection is the main source of seed for the marine aquaculture Egyptian marine and brackish water sectors especially mullets, meagre and groupers while sea bass and sea bream are produced in hatcheries. The use of wild-caught mullet seed for the annual restocking of inland lakes has been known in Egypt for more than eight decades. The great aquaculture development used also these seed sources for its availability and low prices for mullet and eel different stages (Anguilla Anguilla), fi ngerlings, glass eel or elver. Wild fry collection in Egypt is controlled by the Fisheries Law No. 124/1983 that grant a special permit to collect the wild fry under GAFRD offi cers supervision, in determinate sites and periods. Particularly on the Delta coast of the Mediterranean especially at the outlets of the major agriculture drainage canals, branches of the Nile and the connecting canals of lagoons and lakes to the sea. Diagram 9 show the different level of sales of the most important species, as you can see Tilapia has more than 65%, followed by mullet (14%) and carps (13%), then you can see the marine aquaculture fi shes (sea bass, sea bream and meagre).
Conclusion
This short description of Egypt aquaculture has well introduced the reader to the actual situation of the various aquaculture system in Egypt. The aquaculture sub sector is developing as the strong national market demand requests fi shery good quality protein at an affordable price. In fact, the per capita consumption in Egypt is constantly increase and follow the international levels and trends. All the Egyptian aquaculture value chain upstream and downstream sector has a bright future according with the author view. To sustain this development is important to have an high inputs level particularly; land and water availability, feed, seed, technical assistance and specialised aquacul-
ture credit availability. After being satisfi ed the above mentioned upstream chain points the downstream marketing and processing chain must be organised according with the EU fi shery food safety package. As for the Competent Authority (GAFRD) as for the private as actually there are not enough fi shery/aquaculture sector application of the fi shery food safety principles.
Gianluigi Negroni
Notes
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Report 2011-54. 2. Ibidem. 3. Ibidem and CARE Egypt, 2011.
Aquaculture Potential in Middle Upper Egypt, al-Mineya
Governorate, EL, NAGGAR G.,
A. NASR-ALLA, D.A. AL-KENAWY, 2011, Egyptian Aquaculture.
Unpublished paper; EL-SAYED
AFM (2007) Analysis of feeds and fertilizers for sustainable aquaculture development in
Egypt. In: HASAN M.R., HECHT
T., DE SILVA S.S., Tacon AGJ (eds), Study and analysis of feeds and fertilizers for sustainable aquaculture development, FAO fi shing technical paper No. 497,
Rome, FAO El-Sayed AFM (2014)
Value chain analysis. 4. HASSAN A.A., MAHMOUD A.A. (2011), Effect of stocking density on growth performance and economic return in semi-intensive and extensive fi sh culture methods in earthen ponds, J. Arab.
Aquac. Soc. 6(1):13–32, www. arabaqs.org/journal/vol_6/1/
Text11-02.pdf 5. Value chain analysis of Egyptian aquaculture, World Fish
Project Report 2011-54 and
Aquaculture in Egypt: status, constraints and potentials;
NAGLAA F. SOLIMAN, DALIA M.M.
YACOUT, Aquaculture Int. vol. 24, pages1201–1227(2016). 6. Fish species produced through
Aquaculture in 2016, from Aquaculture Elsevier, AHMED NASR-
ALLAHA et al. 2020. 7. Ibidem. 8. Aquaculture in Africa: a Comparative Review of Egypt, Nigeria, and Uganda Vis-À-Vis South Africa Babatunde Adeleke,
DEBORAH ROBERTSON-ANDERSSON,
GAN MOODLEY, SIMON TAYLO (2020), Aquaculture grow potential in Egypt, WAPI factsheet to facilitate evidence-based policy making and sector management in aquaculture. 9. Ibidem. 10. National Aquaculture Sector
Overview, Egypt, 2017. 11. GAFRD, 2010. 12. Intensifi cation of fi sh production in Egypt (2003), MAGDY SOLTAN. 13. S. SADEK (2011), An overview on desert aquaculture in Egypt.
In V. CRESPI, A. LOVATELLI, eds.
Aquaculture in desert and arid lands: development constraints and opportunities, FAO Tech.
Work., 6–9 July 2010, Hermosillo, Mexico, FAO Fisheries and
Aquaculture Proceedings No. 20,
Rome, FAO, 2011, pp. 141–158. 14. FAO, 2018, State of Fisheries and
Aquaculture in the world 2018.
WWW Document, www.fao.org/ state-of-fisheries-aquaculture/ en/; GAFRD, Fishery statistics year book 2015, Fishery statistics year book 2016. 15. Aquaculture, Elsevier, 2020,
Employment generation in the
Egyptian aquaculture value chain: implications for meeting the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs), AHMED NASR-
ALLAHA et al.; World Fish, Cairo,
Egypt, Institute for Future Initiatives (IFI), University of Tokyo,
Japan, GPSS-GLI, World Fish,
Penang, Malaysia and author advices. 16. National Aquaculture Sector
Overview, Egypt, 2003, S. SADEK, 2011, An overview on desert aquaculture in Egypt. In V. CRESPI & A. LOVATELLI, eds. Aquaculture in desert and arid lands: development constraints and opportunities, FAO Tech. Work, 6–9
July 2010, Hermosillo, Mexico,
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Aquaculture in the world 2018,
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