Establishment of the research and training centre in Pemba
In Mozambique, research in the aquaculture sector is still in the early stages of development but the country is not lagging behind, as we look ahead to have a sustainable aquaculture industry that is environmental friendly and economically viable.
The establishment of a National Centre for aquaculture is a step forward in the development of sustainable marine resource development in Mozambique. The existing capacity in terms of human resources and research infrastructure has limited aquaculture development to larger projects financed by inward investment from overseas and with skilled positions mostly staffed by expatriate workers.
The Nuffield Foundation (UK) is supporting a 5 year project (2007-2011), which is collaboration between the Mozambique Ministry of Fisheries, Aquaculture Department, Instituto Nacional de Investigacao Pesqueira (IIP), University Eduardo Mondlane (UEM) and the School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University (UK). The initiative aims to enable training of Mozambicans to provide the technical expertise needed to support development of aquaculture, providing trained staff who can work in the industry and transfer that expertise to the wider community to promote uptake of aquaculture as an economic activity.
The Pemba Marine Environment Centre (Figure 1) is very substantial, newly built (inaugurated in May 2007), and as-yet unoccupied. Funding was via the World Bank, and the centre is under the responsibility of the Ministry for Environment (MICOA). It includes complete buildings infrastructure for teaching field courses with 3 lecture rooms, several laboratories, cold and freezer storage rooms, office and dormitory accommodation for up to 40 people (figure 2), as well as a boat house.
The project will establish a research and training laboratory at the Pemba Marine Environment Centre, which has been identified as an excellent location for development particularly in terms of already-built wet and dry laboratories, cold storage, teaching rooms and accommodation – and location on the beach front for access to seawater.
Initial survey of the centre has been completed to determine requirements for infrastructure adaptation/development, and progress is currently underway to complete the equipment specification and installation by the end of 2008. The initial infrastructure installation will be seawater supply, live food production area, with system for experimental larval and juvenile shrimp culture in tanks in the wet lab, with the emphasis on flexibility and multi-purpose use for other species as required. The dry lab is to be equipped with general laboratory equipment to support research/training.
In the meantime, during the first year of the project, staffs from each of the Mozambique partners are completing MSc training in the UK. In addition, further staff have attended a short course on marine aquaculture in Bangor.
Figure 1. The Pemba Marine Environment Centre
Figure 2. The dormitory accommodation for up to 40 people at CEPAM
Information from Elisa Enguane, Mozambique.
