The Big Fish demonstration fish farm near Dar es Salaam in Tanzania has officially been opened! This demonstration fish farm showcases an integrated approach to fish farming, including innovative recirculation-based systems, improved genetics and high-quality construction materials. Last week, on the 12th of February 2020, the Ambassador Jeroen Verheul and the Deputy Minister of Livestock and Fisheries Hon. Abdallah Hamis Ulega officially opened the FoodTechAfrica Big Fish demonstration fish farm in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. In total, over two hundred  people visited the demonstration  farm in two days. The event was live broadcasted on national television.

Demonstrating best practices

This demonstration fish farm showcases an integrated approach to fish farming, including innovative recirculation-based systems, improved genetics and high-quality construction materials. It includes Recirculation Aquaculture Systems (RAS) for tilapia production and a hatchery producing high-quality YY-fingerlings. Moreover, the location offers excellent training facilities, functioning as a key training location and a “light-house” project for the wider aquaculture sector.

The project is part of FoodTechAfrica’s mission to demonstrate Dutch sustainable aquaculture best practices and provide training to boost fish farming in East Africa. The Righa’s Safina’s Big Fish farm in Dar es Salaam is the first project in Tanzania and supported by the partners Holland Aqua, Viqon, Genap, Til Aqua, Larive International, Lattice Consulting and the Netherlands Government through the Impact Cluster initiative.

Training and expertise

Key to this project is training and the sharing of knowledge. To support the development of the aquaculture sector in Tanzania, a fish farming workshop was given to 60 Tanzanian fish farmers on the day after the opening by Dutch experts. During this workshop, Dutch aquaculture experts gave trainings in Hatchery management and Biosecurity, Genetics, RAS farming and Marketing. This training was well received and will be repeated later this year.

For now, we are open for visitors!