Leading firm puts $15m in Uganda hatchery

NAIROBI - The fishing industry in Lake Victoria is expected to get a boost when one of the leading fish multiplication companies in the world, Genomar, starts commercial operations in Uganda.

The Oslo based company, which is building what it says will be the largest fish hatchery in sub-Saharan Africa, has teamed up with Uganda's Sunco and fish processors Ngege Ltd in a joint fish multiplication and commercial aquaculture venture. The project is expected to yield 10,000 tons of tilapia fish in its first year, beginning January 2006. This is expected to rise to 30,000 tons annually by 2009.

Fisheries authorities in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania have recently sounded the alert on Lake Victoria's Nile perch-based fisheries as fish factories around the lake reported a 40 percent fall in capacity utilization due to declining catches. The project, which is estimated to cost $15 million, is expected to meet demand for fish in Uganda and neighbouring countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Congo and Sudan

Source: Tehran Times.com