In the previous section, various forms of aquaculture technics and species have been described. That general approach allowed to show that the interest for the country of each technic or species is highly variable as regards:
The present status of the art : can the activity start on a commercial scale or is a research program necessary ?
The market : the market may be small or wide ; it may concern an export or a local market;
The technical potentialities : has the country large areas technically favourable for the production ?
The social structure : some activities are sophisticated and need large financial inputs while others are simple (relatively easy technology transfer) and accessible to small investors.
Under these conditions, the consultants team suggests the following priorities for the development of aquaculture in Grenada :
1st priority : Development of freshwater prawn culture in Grenada;
2nd priority : Financial support to the King Crab project in Carriacou ;
3rd priority : Development of Seamoss culture in Grenada.
1.2.1. 1st priority : freshwater prawn
The production process (hatchery and grow-out phases) is fully controlled and widely developed at a commercial scale in the Caribbean region (French West Indies, French Guyana, etc). It can immediately start in Grenada without any local research program;
The activity in Grenada will be financially viable (see Annex I) and accessible to small investors ;
The product has a high value : with a production objective of 50 tons/year the aimed markets will be local and touristic;
the introduction of the technology should be easy : technical support could be available from close research-development centers such as the ones in Martinique and French Guyana (IFREMER facilities);
The activity is a non-consumer of energy and the required feed can be locally produced.
1.2.2. 2nd priority : King Crab
Although there is not yet a reliable production process, the product may eventually become of considerable interest for the country as :
There are local technical potentialities for a large production;
The aimed market would be the north-american one;
The animal is herbivorous, thus there is no need for imported feed : the required feed is naturally produced from the pure marine waters and the sunlight;
The process is so far well fitting in the available labour force (fishermen are well trained to the required manipulations);
Provided the present results be confirmed, setting up a reliable production process should be neither long nor too costly (about 2 years of specific research should be sufficient).
Under these conditions the consultants team advises the Government to support the present King Crab project in Carriacou. Obviously the financial and contractual elements between the 2 partners is a matter of negociation (between them). However, if the technical results are confirmed, there are huge potentialities of development in Grenada and in the Caribbean region.
1.2.3. 3rd priority : seamoss
The technical elements to justify the interest of seamoss culture for the country are roughly similar to those for the King Crab. In addition, alike for the King Crab, field tests and a research program are necessary prior to a large scale production.
Under these conditions, the consultants team suggests seamoss as a third priority because the aimed market is regional only (in comparison with the King Crab aimed market of which is north-american).
2.1.1. Role of the Government
The role of the Government is not to be involved in the production sector. Its role will be only to promote that form of aquaculture with :
A local demonstration (technical demonstration) in Grenada ;
The introduction and the diffusion in Grenada at the level of the private sector of a foreign technology fully adapted to the local constraints.
2.1.2. Required initial means : THE PROJECT
a) Demonstration facilities
For achieving such an objective, it is necessary to implement in Grenada a freshwater prawn demonstration plant that will be run by the Government. That farm will consist of a small hatchery and of 5 grow-out ponds (5 ponds × 2 000 m2 each).
The hatchery will be a small one with a production capacity of about 2 millions juveniles/year. Such a capacity will allow to restock every year 10 ha of grow-out ponds i.e. :
The five ponds (total surface 1 ha) of the demonstration plant ;
9 ha of ponds of the first private investors.
The consultants team wants to point out the necessity of one hatchery even at an initial stage of development. As a matter of fact, experience has shown in French Guyana, Martinique and Guadeloupe that an operational hatchery (reliable local production of juveniles) is a psychological prerequisite for the investors to invest in grow-out ponds.
b) Introduction of a modern technology : technical assistance
Building a demonstration plant is far from being sufficient. It will be associated with a 2 years technical assistance program aiming at :
Implementing the demonstration farm in a suitable way, in collaboration with local civil engineers ;
Running the demonstration plant : production of juveniles in the hatchery and production of market size animals in the 5 grow-out ponds ;
Transferring the technology to :
This point is very important as regards the transfer of the technology : during their 2 years stay in Grenada, the foreign experts will be in charge of the operation of the demonstration plant but they will also directly assist the investors as extension officers.
The required team and duration for the technical assistance program are as follows :
Team leader : experienced biologist in charge of the project design, its operation and the assistance to the investors. he will be assigned in Grenada during 2 years.
Hatchery technician : technician in charge of the operation of the hatchery. He will be assigned in Grenada during 18 months (7 months on year 1 and 11 on year 2).
Civil engineer : a civil engineer with a large experience in aquaculture projects (hatchery and grow-out ponds) will ensure punctual short missions during the project implementation phase.
c) Planning of the project : (see figure no 1)
2 years are suggested as project duration. This period includes :
The construction of the demonstration farm (ponds + hatchery) ;
The operation of the farm ;
The assistance to the private sector ;
It can be reasonably expected that the years 1 and 2 of the project will be respectively 1988 and 1989.
Figure No 1
PROJECT PLANNING
d) Project cost : (see Annexes II, III and IV)
The elements of the project cost are shown on the following table.
| Y E A R | (1988) 1 | (1989) 2 | (1990) 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Investment costs (Annex II) | 581 000 | ||
| Operating costs (Annex III) | 108 000 | 186 100 | 186 100 |
| Technical assistance (Annex IV) | 582 000 | 615 904 | - |
| Cost (basis Oct. 86) | 1 271 000 | 802 004 | |
| Actualized cost (inflation factor : 6 %/year) | 1 388 000 | 928 000 | 228 300 |
(in E.C.)
In constant E.C. (basis Oct. 1986) : the project will cost 2 073 000 E.C. for the 2 first years (year 1 and year 2). That total cost will break down as follows :
| Investment costs | : | 28 % |
| Operating costs | : | 14 % |
| Technical assistance | : | 58 % |
Assuming the project will start in 1988 (construction) and the average inflation factor will be about 6 %/year, the real cost of the project will be 2 316 000 E.C. breaking down as follows :
Year 1 (1988) : 1 271 000 E.C. × 1,03 × 1,06 = 1,388,000 E.C.
Year 2 (1989) : 802 004 E.C. × 1,03 × 1,06 × 1,06 = 928,000 E.C.
e) Future of the demonstration farm
It has been clearly shown that this demonstration farm will be the governmental tool to promote the culture of freshwater prawns in Grenada and to introduce an adapted foreign technology.
However, in the future, the farm will not have to remain a source of expenses for the public sector as part of these facilities can be privatized.
Under these conditions and with the experience of the development of freshwater prawn culture in Martinique and Guadeloupe (French West Indies) the consultants team suggests :
For the grow-out ponds : they will remain the property of the Government. They will become a training center where the future farmers (on short and larger terms) will be trained to the proper technology.
For the hatchery : on medium term, the hatchery will have to be privatized. For that purpose the Government will strongly advise the future farmers (against adapted incentives) to gather in a common structure (cooperative, etc). As soon as possible, that structure will become the owner of the hatchery and will run it commercially. At that stage, the private sector will be responsible for its own development while the promotion role of the Government will be over.
2.2.1. Role of the Government
As previously described in section IV, 1.2.1. this King Crab project is very promising and shows large development potentialities in both Grenada and the Caribbean region.
Under these conditions the consultants team suggests the Government should financially and technically assist the private investor in setting up a reliable production process.
Obviously, the eventual shares of the Government in the business or the certainty of a return of the information (technical and financial) to the public sector will be a matter of negociation between the 2 partners.
2.2.2. Required means
After the consultants team could spend 2 days in Carriacou including :
Various talks with the project investor and the marine biologist in charge of the farm ;
Visits of the site and diving on the cages ; it concludes on the absolute necessity of a technical pilot project.
That next pilot phase will aim at :
A better control of the breeding and nursery phases with onshore hatchery facilities ;
Testing larger grow-out facilities (mainly to identify and then to solve the technological problems that will appear during the daily operations of that pilot plant) ;
Acquiring all the biological and technological information that will be necessary to implement and run in the future a large commercial project.
Most of the required information should be made available within a 2 years program.
a) Pilot facilities
The main required facilities are : one onshore hatchery-nursery, various forms of grow-out units such as pens or cages, adapted vehicles and manipulation devices and measurement equipments. The present local team will not be modified i.e. one marine biologist plus 5 fishermen.
b) Foreign technical support
There is not a foreign technology on King Crab culture that could be introduced in Grenada as that form of aquaculture exists nowhere else. However, due to the present status of the art, an input of field experience in both hatchery and grow-out technics (in cages and pens) should be very positive for the definition and the management of the pilot project.
For that reason, the consultants team suggests to include in the project 2 years of foreign technical assistance including :
1 technician full time ;
Punctual supervision missions by one highly experienced aquaculture biologist or engineer (3 missions of 1 week/year).
2.2.3. Project cost
The elements of the project cost are shown on the following table (see Annex V for the detailed breakdown).
| YEAR | 1 (1988) | 2 (1989) |
|---|---|---|
| Investment costs | 253 000 | |
| Operating costs | 43 000 | 43 000 |
| Technical assistance | 338 000 | 312 000 |
| Total cost (basis Oct. 86) | 634 000 | 355 000 |
| Actualized cost | 692 000 | 410 000 |
| (infl. factor : 6 %/year) |
(in E.C.)
In constant E.C. (basis Oct. 1986), the project will cost 989 000 E.C. for the 2 first years.
Assuming the project will start in 1988, the real cost will become 1 102 000 E.C. (inflation included) breaking down as follows :
year 1 : 692 000 E.C.
year 2 : 410 000 E.C.
