Best management practices for commercial tilapia reproduction in Northeast Africa
WorldFish
Introduction
Tilapia hatcheries are the most common type of fish hatchery in Egypt, as well as many other countries globally. Their success has helped supply fish farms with quality tilapia seed, which in turn has increased farmed fish production in many parts of the world. With the fish farming industry growing so quickly, however, tilapia hatcheries must improve the quality of their seed production for fish farmers to maintain their profit margins.
To this end, these guidelines document the most optimal, locally appropriate management practices for culturing Nile tilapia. There are currently three hatchery systems in use in Egypt for Nile tilapia: (1) concrete tanks with water-heating system, (2) hapas under plastic tarps and (3) hapas in open ponds. Observing the best management practices (BMPs) in these guidelines will increase productivity in hatcheries and produce highly vigorous and uniform fry that are free from disease and malformations. In this way, hatcheries will be better placed to meet the demand among fish farmers in the country for high quality tilapia fry and fingerlings.
BMPs emphasize the optimal use of production inputs such as good broodstock and appropriate feeds for each specific stage. They also undrerscore the proper management necessary for rearing broodstock and collecting eggs and for better nursing approaches for fry after the eggs hatch, with a focus on nutrition. Attending carefully BMPs ensures that the available resources and operation elements are used properly, without compromising the protection of the environment.
To draft first version of this report, WorldFish Egypt organized a workshop in 2013 for private sector experts and entrepreneurs to discuss the BMPs for local hatcheries. Those BMPs are summarized in this guide.
Contents
1. Site selection and hatchery design
2. Broodstock selection and management
3. Hatchery pre-spawning preparation
4. Water quality management
5. Spawning management
6. Fry nursery and monosex fry production
7. Fry rearing for fingerling production
8. Marketing
9. Recordkeeping
10. Biosecurity and health management
11. Quality assurance
12. General considerations for environmental protection
13. Social responsibility
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