Kwanza norte to have larvae production centres #Angola

The northern Kwanza Norte province will as from
2014 gain a larvae production centre with a
capacity of producing about two millions larvae,
to support the project of inland fisheries to be
implemented in the locality of Ngolome.
The fact was announced on Wednesday by the
provincial director of Agriculture, Environment
and Fisheries, Humberto Mesquita.
He stated that the larvae production centre will
produce larvae for restocking over 200 existing
fishing lakes in the region of Massangano.
Humberto Mesquita said that the activity under
the aquaculture programme (breeding fish in
reservoirs) aims for the production of tilapia fish
on a large scale, under the government actions to
fight against hunger and improvement of the
citizens' diet and reduce imports.
He clarified that the project is being implemented
in a partnership between the Ministry of
Agriculture and an Israeli company.
According to him, the referred centre will
enhance the activity of nearly two hundred
fishery cooperatives in the region of Massangano
that benefit from regular support from the
government, especially in terms of boats and
fishing nets.
That official announced that the project will be
financed by the United Nations Fund for Food
( FAO ) covering initially, the training of fishermen
in terms of fish treatment after capture, by
experts from Senegal and Ghana countries with
extensive experience in that field.
Humberto Mesquita said the next phase will
involve the construction of fish processing
centres, with particular emphasis on the fact that
the activity is carried out mainly by women and
thus prevent loss of large amounts of fish, for
lack of treatment and processing techniques.
With approximately 10.000 square kilometres and
an estimated population of 940, Ngolome locality
has 99 fishery lakes, where species such as
tilapia, catfish and mullet, among others can be
found.