Migori aquaculture farmers are set to benefit from a mobile app that will aim to improve their aquaculture farm operations, track fish productivity and collect data in real time.
Technical Manager for Bayrise Farm Limited Mr. Robert Ninsiima said they decided to train the fish farmers especially those that own cages about the advantages of using the mobile app “Aquanetix”.
The Aquanetix App is a fully autonomous aquaculture farm management application that allows users to get daily technical support and improve the performance of their fish stocks.
The Aquanetix app also provides the productivity of the fish stock, keeps fish related records, and provides various market opportunities to help the aquaculture business.
Bayrise cage farm is one of the biggest fish cage farms in Migori County and according to Ninsiima they decided to offer training to the local fish farmers on app usage. He said that the training aimed to equip local fish farmers with technical knowledge and capacity building in fish related activities.
Ninsiima also added that the mobile app will help cage fish farmers improve their skills in fish feeding, record keeping, and water quality.
“Our county has fish resources but what lacks is the impact knowledge and skills required to train fish cage farmers. We intend to train our local fish farmers, especially those that are engaging in fish caging on farm economics will the aim of solving fish related problems like feeding, production, and marketing”, noted Ninsiima.
The official said that the app training will tremendously improve fish cage farming in the county with the aim of making the county food secure. He, however, acknowledged that the majority of fishermen in the county have started to slowly embrace fish caging making it a popular method as compared to fish pound and open fishing.
Bayrise cage farm which is located at Mukuyu along the Sori Bay in Nyatike Sub County has an annual turnover of about 400 metric tonnes of Tilapia making it one the successful fish caging farms in the county.
The official emphasized that the farm will also explore cage farming on other small beaches like Matoso, Nyakondo, and Nyamrongo to help the Nyatike fish community fully benefit from the new fish caging techniques.
Beach Management Unit (BMU) official Mr. Enos Ochola urged fishermen in the county to form groups that will enable them to pull together funds and access grants to start cage farming. He said that cage farming is a capital intensive venture and through formed associations, small scale aquaculture farmers can be able to source funds for the project.
Ocholo called upon both the national and the county governments to help finance fish groups to boost cage farming into an economic venture.
“If aquaculture can get support through subsidized feeds and quality fish lings the social economic welfare and the living standards of the Migori fish farmers can hugely improve”, ocholo noted.
Migori is the third county with the most fish cages after Siaya and Homabay counties thanks to the majority of small scale fish farmers who are embracing the modern method. According to The Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI) Lake Victoria has an estimated carrying capacity of 25,427 cages.