World Aquaculture 31 Fig 4. Tilapia pond at Sapu showing monk drain at deepest end of the pond and the emergency spillway at the shallow end of the ponds spilling into a shallow drainage canal. Photo by Famara Darboe. sourced fish meal, a vitamin mix, salt, and palm oil that is extruded into pellets and sun dried. Fish ponds are maintained by local farmers from Sapu and fish are sold when harvested. Part of the training for fish farmers of Sapu is in the use of hapa nets for isolating and maintaining broodfish (Figure 5). As of mid-2011 all tilapia production from ponds is being sold or consumed locally in the Sapu area. In addition to the newly established tilapia farm in Sapu, a farm in the village of Kanilai (13.178oN, 16.005oW) has been growing Nile tilapia since 2004 as part of the agricultural operations of Gambian President Yahya Jammeh. No details about production from the farm are available but fish are marketed locally. Shrimp Farming Shrimp farming was introduced to Gambia in 1982 with the establishment of a 200-ha semi-intensive farm complex by the Norwegian-financed Scan-Gambia Shrimp, Ltd. on the south bank of the lower estuary portion of the Gambia River near the town of Pirang (13.283oN, 16.526oW) (Figure 6). The farm was designed to have a pumping capacity of 250 m3 per minute and include a hatchery with a capacity of 10 million PLs per month and a certified processing facility with offices, stores, workshops, freezer, cold storage and an ice plant to enable export of shrimp to Europe (Sadek et al. 2002). The farm began production operations in 1988 with the importation of giant tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon) broodstock from Asia. In 1989 and 1990, production was about 50 mt (FAO 2011). Scan-Gambia ceased operations in 1992 due to financial problems (Jallow 2009), but in 2000 the assets of ScanFig. 5. Hapa nets set up in a fishpond to hold broodstock. Photo by Famara Darboe. Fig. 6. Satellite image of the Gambian shrimp farm at Pirang taken June 7, 2004 while the farm was being operated by West African Aquaculture, Ltd. The Gambia River is at the top of the image. Only about 50 ha of the designed total 210 ha farm was in use for shrimp farming. Image by Google Earth. Gambia, including ponds, hatchery and processing facility, were acquired by a group of local Gambian investors and reincorporated as West Africa Aquaculture, Ltd. (WAAq). The WAAq group operated the farm using about 50 ha of the 200 ha that was originally constructed, and production amounted to only about 25 t annually, suggesting that the company was severely undercapitalized.5 Although the farm originally intended to supply export markets, most of the P. monodon shrimp produced was marketed locally to tourist-class hotels and restaurants. WAAq ceased farm operations in 2008 due to financial problems. The Gambian National Assembly has raised concern about the farm co-opting valuable artisanal fishing grounds in wetlands adjacent to the Gambia River, but not generating any economic activity in return. Culture of Bivalve Mollusks The wild harvest of molluscan shellfish in Gambian estuaries is most often the work of women fishers. Mangrove oysters Crassostrea tulipa (C. gasar) are collected mainly from mangroves in the lower Gambia River estuary. The vast bulk of oyster harvesting occurs in the Tanbi Wetlands, a mangrove-dominated wetland complex south and west of Banjul along the Atlantic coast. The oyster season is normally from March to June, until the onset of the five-month rainy season. Greatest spatfall occurs during
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