Africa-Press – Angola. The Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Carmem de Sacramento Neto, Tuesday reiterated to the business community that the country is open to investment in the river fishing sector, to meet the needs of fishermen and fish farmers.
According to the minister, despite the government’s investments in the sector to meet the needs of river fishing equipment and aquaculture feed, the country is open to private investment.
Carmem Neto was speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony for the reconstruction and expansion of the Ngolome Training and Fish Processing Centre.
She said that the Ministry has projects in the pipeline to boost artisanal fishing, including fishing equipment and artifacts, as well as the rehabilitation of the Mucoso Irrigated Perimeter, which has a feed factory.
According to the head of the Fisheries Department of the Provincial Directorate of Agriculture in Kwanza-Norte, the number of fish farmers in the province has fallen due to difficulties in acquiring feed as a result of rising prices.
In 2014, when the National Fish Farmers’ Program was set up, he said, the supply of feed was secured by the state, but with the liberalization of the market, the sale of fish feed was taken over by private management.
He explained that the high price on the market makes it difficult to buy, leading to people abandoning the activity.
The head of the sector said that the province of Kwanza-Norte has the conditions for implementing aquaculture projects with tangible repercussions for the country’s economy.
He highlighted Cuanza-Norte’s potential in terms of water resources with strong possibilities for fish farming on a small, medium and large scale, adding that the activity can be practiced by peasants and farmers throughout the province.
In Cuanza-Norte there are 36 lagoons, 32 of which are in the municipality of Cambambe, 41 rivers, two of which are navigable, the Kwanza and the Lucala.
The species produced in fish farming are catfish, most notably (tilapia), which is marketed mainly in Luanda. The activity generated around 19 jobs in the province.
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