From a general point of view, the future for inland fisheries and aquaculture in Eritrea seems quite narrow. The former are virtually and the latter completely non-existant for the moment, and serious constraints can prevent their development. As far as inland fisheries are concerned, the main constraints are:
For marine aquaculture constraints include:
These strong limitations, together with the fact that the potential of Red Sea fisheries is notably underexploited, imply that neither inland fisheries nor marine aquaculture should be considered as high priority short-term objectives.
Nevertheless, in the long term, it could be interesting at least to know more precisely the potential, in terms of technico-economical feasibility and social acceptability. A pilot project is therefore recommended with the purpose of increasing the base of knowledge for Eritrean reservoirs, assessing their real productivity, and determining the degree to which they could be exploited, including the possible application of intensive stocking techniques. The type of fish that could be harvested, consumed and/or marketed would also be a subject for these pilot investigations. After a pilot phase or perhaps three years, it should be possible to decide whether inland fisheries development ought to be undertaken or not, according to a more precise estimation of the costs and benefits of such an operation.
For marine aquaculture, it does not seem suitable for the moment to encourage any institutional involvement except for the purpose of controlling private operations and avoiding failures that could threaten the economic and ecological environment as well as the image of the country. Here also, as the conditions are very specific (temperature, salinity), any serious project should start by a pilot phase in order to determine the technical feasibility of the chosen options, and to have the time to build the marketing network. To overcome the technical problems, possibilities offered by other species than those referred to above should be studied. Especially to be considered are the following:
testing shrimp farming on the local shrimp species, which hopefully would be more salinity-tolerant than Penaeus monodon;
evaluating the possibilities for the breeding of seabream (Sparus aurata) which should be able to grow in the Eritrean waters, and which is strongly demanded on European markets, though the price is now decreasing due to a growing aquaculture production in the Mediterranean area.
In conclusion, various general recommendations can be made.
Inland fisheries
Due to the reduced potential impact of the development of this sector, the costs for developing it should be assessed precisely in comparison to the expected benefits.
Any development should start by an assessment of the water quality, and by small pilot operations as it is not sure at all that first the technical conditions are optimal, and second that the fish is acceptable to rural populations.
The results of pilot operations should be used to assess the costs of a larger scale development and to evaluate the real benefits for the rural populations.
Particularly, as the main issue is to alleviate the protein deficit in the rural areas, the alternative of catching and distributing low-price pelagics from the Red Sea should be studied.
After the pilot phase, all projects should be developed on a free market basis.
Marine aquaculture
Any marine aquaculture project should be evaluated in comparison with the development cost and projected production cost that could be expected from a fisheries operation on comparable species, and should be considered for exports, as the Eritrean market would not accept high-priced aquaculture products (Massawa's high quality fish is now sold at 3 EBirr(0.6 US$)/kg). Subsistence marine aquaculture should be studied with regard of the cost of the exploitation of the coastal pelagics (potential of 25–50,000 t/yr).
Any state involvement in the financing of the projects should be made more through providing infrastructure (roads, water, electricity, etc.) rather than through direct capital participation, and donor financing should only take place after a very critical analysis of the proposed feasibility studies.
The government could also allow incentives to private investment in aquaculture (concessions, tax-free imports, tax exemptions) on the condition that any project on a new species would start by a pilot phase.
