Tunisian government backs aquaculture feed production

Having identified the potential for the national aquaculture sector for growth, the government of Tunisia has announced several measures to support the industry. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), one of the top priorities for the North African country’s government is to create a regional aquafeed mill. Poor quality of domestic diets is a key factor limiting the growth of the sector. Tunisia has a long history of aquaculture, but recent developments include the farming of fish – particularly seabass and seabream – in floating and submerged cages and using fry and feeds imported from France and Italy, among other countries, reports the country’s Technical Centre for Aquaculture (CTA). Set up as part of the previous national strategy for aquaculture development, which covered the period from 2007 to 2016, CTA aimed to assist the private sector with technology transfer and technical support. According to FAS, the Tunisian government will continue providing technical assistance to private companies and training a specialized workforce. This support aims to address another issue affecting the sector, namely ineffective disease control. Other support measures to be offered by the national authorities are subsidies and tax breaks for investments in aquaculture projects, promotion of exports, and the introduction of new species (seaweed and shrimp). Fishing has been practiced in Tunisia for centuries, but the wild catch has been gradually replaced by aquaculture over the past 30 years or so. According to FAS, aquaculture production in 2016 amounted to 15,200 metric tons (mt) in total, with seabass and seabream accounting for approximately 13,200 mt. In addition, production included 1,260 mt of freshwater fish (thinlip mullet, common carp, zander and flathead gray mullet), 520 mt of bluefish tuna, and 183 mt of shellfish.

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