Over the years of serving the Aquaculture Industry I have frequently been approached by people who are interested in investing in the Industry but lack the information on which to base an investment decision.  Typically their questions are on two levels, the first being the technical aspects concerning the selection of species and infrastructure, the second being the financial implications of such an investment.
 
In order to provide the answers that such a potential entrant into Aquaculture needs, I structured an Aquaculture Course in 2004 based on providing information about fish farming that is comprehensive enough for the delegate to make an adequately informed decision.  Furthermore, our focus is on practical application in the local context to ensure that previous successes and failures are used as stepping stones for new investors to avoid the pitfalls and emulate successes.
 
We are offering the next 9-day Practical Fish Farmer Course at the Aquaculture Academy in Grahamstown from 11-19 February.  If you are considering investing or working in the Industry I strongly advise that this will be 9 days very well spent.  We start off by spawning tilapia and catfish on Day 1 and manage the growth of these fish over the next 9 days.  We conduct the practical exercises on a fish farm of feeding, cleaning, health checks, spawning, size sorting and moving, and in between these sessions we cover the theory of fish farming from infrastructure options, to species, nutrition, health, stock management, markets and aquaculture economics.  At the end of the 9-day period you will have covered enough theory and practice to have a solid idea of what is involved, how best to proceed and what the economic implications are.
 
If you considering entering the Aquaculture Industry I highly recommend that you first attend the Aquaculture Course to ensure you have the full set of information to make a worthwhile decision regarding `is this Industry right for me’ and if so `how best to proceed’.