Abstract:

By far, Nile tilapia is the mostly cultured fish in ponds because of the good market it commands and its wide
acceptance by the people throughout the country. About 70% of the stocked fish ponds is tilapia. However,
in spite of that, fish farmers in Uganda have generally complained about the poor performance of tilapia
fish in ponds, besides its availability for stocking. Following these complaints the scientists at Kajjansi
together with Fisheries Extension Workers embarked on putting certain measures in place. These included
selection of candidate tilapia species for brood stock, elimination of contamination of parental stock and
fish fry, improvement of skills of farmers in management of fish ponds, conducting on-station and on-farm
trials, production of quality fry, fertilizing ponds/feeding fish using sunflower oil cake and provision of basic
equipment like harvesting nets to the contact fanners. Preliminary results showed that the production levels
increased from 12kg./100m2/year to an average of 20kg./l00m2/year in western Uganda. Fourteen ponds in
various parts of the country (North, Central and Western Uganda) were stocked with tilapia fry and 26 fish
farmers from those pilot districts were trained in various skills of fish farming. These measures increased
fish production through improved aquaculture practices and improved fry quality. It is hoped that this
improvement would ultimately reduce fishing pressure on the fish stocks in the wild, improve the income of
the households and eventually reduce the poverty level of the fish farming communities. There is need to
extend similar efforts to other parts of the country.