Chongwe firm ventures into fish farming

A CHONGWE-BASED company has invested in production of fish fingerlings to supply to the aquaculture industry. Palabana Fisheries is currently producing about 100,000 tilapia fingerlings per month on its 20-acre land in Chongwe about 45 kilometres east of Lusaka. 

According to Zambia daily mail, Palabana Fisheries supervisor Rabson Phiri said the farm has 18 workers, 17 concrete and six earth ponds and a dam. 

Mr Phiri said the company was prompted to go into fish farming partly because of the growing demand for fingerlings in the country. 

Mr Phiri said in an interview in Lusaka recently that lack of technical know-how was making it difficult for people to go into fish fingerling breeding, adding that this had negatively affected the growth of the aquaculture sector. 

“We realised that the aquaculture sector in the country had negatively been affected by the low production of fingerlings as well as lack of the technical know-how to produce them,” Mr Phiri said. 

Palabana Fisheries is also offering advice on how to raise fingerlings. “When we supply the fingerlings for the first three months, we visit the producers to show them how they can grow the fish,” he said. 

Mr Phiri also urged people who want to go into fish farming to understand the industry if they want to contribute to the growth of the sector and the economy. 

Palabana Fisheries will be officially commissioned in December.