The tidal swamps and tidal flats of Kenya have always held tantalizing prospects for aquaculture development. With some 50 400 ha, the tidal area's potentials for fish and shellfish production would be enormous, should they be found to be suitable for pond development. The swamplands at Lamu, with 28 400 ha total area, always play prominently in any discussion on the potentialities, then is sometimes dismissed on the basis of poor access and communications. It appears that any discussion on Lamu's inaccessibility would be academic since virtually all of the tracts of swamplands and tidal flats examined have proved to be sandy and peaty. The same is true with some 9 100 ha within the Kwale district, leaving only about 25.6 percent of the total area representing 12 900 ha with some prospects.
Not all of the remaining 12 900 ha of tidal swamps can be used. Some are too narrow in extent to be of any value. Others do not have the desired soil type or may be too far from the seawater source. Furthermore some of the areas found suitable are already being used or shall soon be developed for salt production. Taking all this into consideration we can come up only with a total potential area of 3 950 ha, of which some 800 ha consist of saltworks reservoirs, as shown in Table 11.
Some 500 ha at Port Tudor and Port Reitz have been classified as suitable for tide-dependent, extensive culture systems. The rest of the areas, representing 2 650 ha, with very little exception, would best be designed and operated as pump-assisted sytems. All the areas classified as suitable for extensive culture could of course also be used for intensive culture if so desired.
Additional areas within the existing saltworks could be used should the salt companies be convinced of the profitability of converting a portion of their saltworks to shrimp production.
The limited area of tidal swamps found suitable for tide-dependent shrimp farms leads to the inescapable conclusion that the potential of the coastal area for shrimp farming could be realized only through pump-assisted systems. This in effect leaves no alternative but to adopt semi-intensive or intensive systems.
There appears to be a high interest in commercial-scale shrimp farming in Kenya among both Kenyan and foreign investors. All the saltwork companies can be considered potential shrimp producers. Even the lack of baseline data from actual semi-intensive or intensive P. monodon culture under Kenyan conditions does not seem to deter such interest on the part of some companies. Undoubtedly, with or without government support in term of technical assistance, some of the bolder investors will still eventually proceed with their plans to produce shrimps, and once one company has taken the lead, others are bound to follow.
One of the most serious constraints to the full development of the shrimpculture industry in Kenya would be the supply of shrimp feed. There does not appear to be an adequate supply of raw materials such as trash fish, and Kenya still imports fish meal. Ironically, there are reports from reliable sources that the large trawlers operating within the Ungwana Bay area, routinely dump low quality catch so as not to use up valuable refrigerated storage holds or ice which are reserved for the high value catch such as shrimps. Even when such a resource is tapped, however, it would most likely still be short of meeting total requirements, so that the import of some raw materials for feed manufacture would still be necessary.
One way of alleviating the feed supply problem is to use Artemia biomass as feed. Here, the saltworks could play a vital role. Already experiments are in progress on the use of saltworks' evaporation ponds for Artemia production. Artemia it should be noted would be an excellent feed for shrimps. The shrimp farms in Shandong province, People's Republic of China, use Artemia biomass harvested from the nearby saltworks as a supplementary feed.
The existing saltworks' potential for shrimp production cannot be ignored. Some, if not most, of the eight companies would most likely eventually engage in some form of shrimp production with or without government encouragement. The time is ripe for the Fisheries Department to seize the initiative and hasten such development. The fastest way is to promote the stocking of P. monodon or P. indicus fry in the saltworks reservoirs, which are in effect ready-made extensive shrimp ponds.
The estimated 800 ha of seawater reservoir ponds available within the Ngomeni to Kurawa area has a potential of producing at least 120 metric tons of P. monodon a year (see Appendix IV). This could be achieved without interrupting the saltworks' usual operation and without diminution in their salt production. Incremental cost would consist only of fry acquisition.
On the part of the Fisheries Department, the only major investment would be the construction of a modern shrimp hatchery at a strategic location. The 800 ha of reservoir area would require a minimum of 8 million P. monodon post-larvae a year. Therefore the hatchery should be designed to initially produce 10–15 million post-larvae annually. The cost of development and operation could be recovered from the sale of shrimp fry. Perhaps this hatchery would best be implemented as a project of the proposed Fisheries Development Authority as embodied in Kenya's 1984–88 Development Plan.
In addition, a shrimp fry collecting industry ought to be developed by encouraging the small fishermen to engage in such activity. There should be no problem in stocking wild fry (primarily P. indicus) together with hatchery-produced P. monodon. Once the market for such commodity is established, it would hopefully spur such development.
For such a programme, a small team of extension technicians will be necessary to oversee the preparation and stocking of the reservoir ponds, as well as to monitor the development and harvests. Since there are at the most only eight companies involved, a team of two to four technicans with a dedicated transport vehicle would be adequate.
This development approach would have a very short gestation period. The first harvests could be realized within two years after conceptualization. This would incidentally also solve the problem of how to make use of the shrimp freezing and storage equipment that has been ordered for project KEN/80/018, which is now lying uselessly in its original crates at the compound of the Fisheries Department station, in Mombasa.
Simultaneously, research and development work on semi-intensive and intensive shrimp culture systems should be carried out. It can be presumed that once a saltworks starts to harvest and profit from shrimps they will need no convincing to look beyond the extensive system and embark on semi-intensive operation. During such time it is essential to have the necessary technology adapted to the local environment.
This development approach could be criticized as a scheme which would merely “help the rich become richer”. Such would be the unfortunate short-term effect. However, on the positive side it would contribute to Kenya's national wealth. But more importantly, it would create public awareness on the profitability of shrimp farming and make it less difficult to promote the concept among the low-income families living within the coastal areas. Such awareness will be essential before they can be motivated to participate in a medium- to long-term programme which would extend to them the opportunity to become shrimp farm operators and share in the wealth that Kenya's coastal area could generate.
Unlike its freshwater equivalent, saltwater pond aquaculture cannot be scaled down to a small-scale, simple, hole-in-the-ground affair that one could dig even in one's backyard. Development cost per unit area is high since it would involve clearing and uprooting of mangrove trees; pond and canal excavation; fairly high dykes and more elaborate supply and drain-gate systems. Furthermore, especially for shrimp which is a high trophic level organism, the yield from an extensive pond relying totally on natural food will be low, so that fairly large areas may be required to attain a reasonably viable level of operation that would earn enough to support a family.
The relatively large investment required to develop the so-called family pond would be an obstacle to the participation of any but the rich and the already established capitalist. Here in Kenya we have estimated that it would cost about K.Shs. 134 000 to develop a one-hectare pond from a mangrove forest using manual construction. In fact, based upon salt industry figures, it would be cheaper by 25 percent to use machines for developing ponds (see Appendix V).
In order to develop a five-hectare shrimp pond as has been previously proposed, the total development cost required would amount to K.Shs. 670 000. This amount, even if given under a supervised credit scheme, would simply be beyond a small fisherman, earning perhaps 30–40 shillings a day, to comprehend and much less manage. Thus, while certainly very noble and idealistic, the concept of having small fishermen dig their own shrimp ponds with the help of each other, could only be considered naive and simplistic.
In short, left to their own devices, with minimal government assistance or participation, it is doubtful that the concept of small family-size ponds could even be realized. Such development has not taken place even in Southeast Asia where there is a high awareness and strong tradition of coastal aquaculture.
The only way in which the poor could be given the opportunity to own and operate their shrimp ponds is through the fishpond-estate concept. Under this scheme an appropriate government agency, a special parastatal body, or perhaps even a fairly well organized fishermen's cooperative would obtain the necessary financing, and would undertake the design, construction and overall management of a large estate of, say, 100–500 ha, consisting of family-size production units, as well as central support facilities and services such as a pumping station, a hatchery-nursery complex, a feedmill, a processing plant and the necessary “soft-ware” support in the form of extension technicians and training programmes. Such an estate would be a logical undertaking of the proposed Fisheries Development Authority as a long-term venture after the hatchery.
The programme need not, and must not, be limited to simple, tidal-exchange, extensive systems. The limited area available for coastal pond development in Kenya makes it more vital to look at some degree of intensification in order to make the basic family pond viable at a smaller scale and therefore benefit more families. Furthermore, it should be mentioned that the tide-dependent shrimp culture system at Ngomeni being programmed for dissemination appears to be inappropriate even for Ngomeni itself (see Appendix VI).
The size of a family production unit and intensity of culture should be determined through a rigorous analysis of relevant data during the feasibility study preparation stage. Construction methods to be employed should likewise not be limited to either manual or mechanical means. The best approach really would be a right mix of men and machines. There are some situations where men would be more effective, such as in tree-cutting and in developing water-logged areas incapable of supporting heavy machines. However, there are situations where machines would be faster and more effective, such as in perimeter dike construction and levelling. The point is not to saddle the intended beneficiaries with a high development cost which they would have to amortize.
Specific criteria for participant-beneficiaries should be drawn up based upon a base-line socio-economic profile and the participant selected accordingly. Upon selection, they would under go hands-on training in a suitably equipped training farm. They would then be awarded their own pond which they would be expected to amortize over a given time using proceeds from their harvest. All pond inputs such as fry, feed or fertilizer shall be provided by the estate management and would also be paid for upon harvest.
This concept is not new. This has been applied in different variations in agricultural development. Its application in aquaculture is, however, relatively new. To date a similar concept for Macrobrachium had been tried in Malaysia. In the Philippines a fish-pen development scheme for small fishermen at Laguna de Bay, financed by ADB and OPEC, was designed along similar concepts.
The estate concept is often looked upon very favourably by international funding agencies because of its magnitude and socially-oriented objectives. With a well-prepared proposal it should not be difficult for the Government of Kenya to obtain financing from a suitable agency starting from the pre-feasibility study preparation all the way to actual development. In this manner the poor Kenyans living along the coast would also share in the bounty that Kenya's land and water can offer.
