Lack of fish feed irks farmer

By GABRIEL FITO
AN East Sepik inland fish farmer has raised concerns that domestic feed may soon be depleted if feed production plants are not set up to complement local supply.
Rex Managiah of Sowon ex-service block on the west coast of Wewak said farmers were feeding their fish with termites and waste food but as fish stocks increased they would need adequate feed to ensure proper growth.
“Fish in the ponds are just like meat birds, they only rely on the farmer to feed them and when they do not eat enough, they will not grow well,” he said.
“There should be some feed like those for the chicken where we could easily access to supplement local diet.”
Provincial fisheries adviser Willie Sangi admitted that the lack of fish feed supply was a major concern that could be raised with the National Fisheries Authority.
“The main objective of the government in this project is to ensure that there is enough fish for the family and surplus to sell for an income to sustain their livelihood,” Sangi said.
“We could only achieve that if we have portable fish pellet producing machines and I have faith in NFA in acquiring these machines.”
Sangi said that fish meal was produced in large centres such as Goroka and Lae but the supply was not sufficient to meet demand throughout the country.