The aquaculture development strategy proposed by the Mission for Syria is discussed below. A clearly defined strategy is necessary to ensure that the Government's efforts are focused on introducing, at a reasonable cost, economically self-sustaining aquaculture activities (or culture systems) that are socially valid in the long-term. The first step in formulating a plan, therefore, is to select the most appropriate culture systems.
By establishing development objectives the Government attempts to ensure that social changes, achieved through economic activities, will be relevant for the future. Summarizing the objectives of Government as a whole in terms applicable to fisheries these objectives are:
to increase the supply of fish per caput
to create employment (especially for fishermen or coastal populations)
to contribute to an inflow of foreign exchange
to use underutilized natural resources more.
The Mission considers the long-run economic viability of aquaculture activities to be very important, and understands that the Ministry of Aquaculture and Aquarian Reform has the same view and wishes to avoid the problems encountered at present in trout culture development.
The following culture systems have been considered:
intensive culture of marine fish in raceways
semi-intensive culture of marine fish in ponds
shrimp culture in ponds
polyculture of fish and shrimps in ponds
integrated aquaculture
The mission has appraised the selected systems with regard to the following characteristics:
results as expressed by yearly harvests in 1986 and 1991, and by the culture system's contribution to Government development objectives when systems are self-sustaining (Table 14).
nature and quantities of inputs which Government, and public sectors need to provide in order to reach these objectives (Table 15).
the risk for each system of not developing as foreseen (Table 16). The culture systems will now be reviewed individually. The review is based on the above tables. As the technical and economic aspects of individual culture activities or systems have been reviewed in Section 3, only supplementary comments will be made here.
(i) Intensive culture of fish in raceways
The main advantage of establishing intensive marine fish-farms would be that large quantities of fish could be provided within a few years and that technology from other Mediterranean countries is available. Other advantages are:
the wide choice of sites
the possibility of producing highly-prized fish, part of which could be exported
a better control on reproduction and grow-out phases
a better use of manpower
The disadvantages are:
the commitments involved in maintaining a continuous flow
the requirements in energy and feed
a large degree of foreign components, especially technical assistance and specialized equipment (pumps, tanks, etc.)
However, in Syria these disadvantages are limited by the low cost of energy and the better use of feed by fish than by poultry or other animal production. The risks in maintaining the flow can be decreased by alarm and security systems. Contributions to a net inflow of foreign exchange is also to be considered, by the limitations on imports, and the possibilities of exportation to Lebanon, Cyprus or Greece.
(ii) Semi-intensive culture of fish in ponds
This system is based on the use of natural productivity developed in ponds, as presented above. The principal advantages are:
the use of lower level technology, except for fry collection and restocking
the relatively low cost of energy and feed, due to the fact that a water supply is necessary only to compensate infiltration and evaporation, and feed is only complementary
the production of fish, with a good local demand (mullets, seabreams, tilapias)
the use of underutilized resources as agriculture wastes, manure, etc.
the limited risks due to water supply or external pollution
Disadvantages include the risks due to the local market situation, the requirements in fingerlings from the wild (mullets, seabreams) and a lower foreign demand for such products.
Another factor to be examined, is the nature of the soil, which is very important for the implementation of ponds, and the appraisal of the maximum expected production. No data were collected during the mission (but sites visited seem to be available) and a review of lands and soils is necessary.
(iii) Shrimp culture
As mentioned above, shrimp culture (monoculture) could be profitable if two cycles a year are possible. In this case, the main advantage of shrimp culture consists in producing a very good product for exportation, and the creation of local employment (skilled and unskilled manpower), the low cost of energy and limited risks due to the water supply.
The main problems are associated with the high technology required, the cost of feed, the diseases, the nature of soils, and the provision of breeders.
(iv) Polyculture of fish and shrimp in ponds
This system could reduce some of the disadvantages of both systems (ii) and (iii). It should produce species for local and for export markets; the use of land investments, manpower and natural productivity is better, and pumping risks are low. The main problem is the lack of data for the Mediterranean area, especially on the species of fish to be used, the densities, the competition for feed, and fishery methods.
Experiments are being carried out in other Mediterranean countries, but results are not yet available.
(v) Integrated aquaculture
This system seems to be the most profitable system if land and soil suitable for pond culture are available. The use of energy, feed, natural or underutilized resources, manpower, etc., are optimal, and the wide range of products offers security for marketing. The main problems are associated with the high technology required, the permanence of water supply, and the pathological risks involved in the reuse of water.
In this section, the Mission's selection of culture systems for Syria is listed according to priority. It should be noted that the development and introduction of the various culture systems are ranked according to urgency; priority should not be construed as meaning a need for massive use of Government funds.
In ranking and selecting culture systems the Mission attempted to evalute the extent to which the various systems contributed to development goals, used Government resources and were exposed to risk (that is, to summarize the information contained in Tables 14, 15 and 16.
The method used to weight the data was as systematic and quantitative as feasible as the information available allowed. The result of the weighting (summarizing Tables 14, 15 and 16), is given in the first three columns of Table 17.
In order to arrive at a ranking of the culture systems, the information contained in Table 17 also had to be summarized. Again, the procedure used was systematic and quantitative. Major importance was given to “expected achievements of Government development goals” and to “estimated economic viability, using costs and technologies as known in 1982”; less was given to “risk” and to “probable changes in economic viability” (see Appendix 11).
The Mission's assessment of the information contained in Table 17 led to the following conclusions.
in the future, the system “integrated aquaculture” should be encouraged and given the highest priority;
the three other systems (intensive culture, semi-intensive culture and polyculture) are satisfactory; in addition, such systems are part of the above (integrated aquaculture);
shrimp culture (monoculture) is not appropriate and seems technically and economically risky. However, the Mission could not collect all data required for a complete appraisal, and further studies are necessary to confirm this conclusion.
