WORLD AQUACULTURE 41 Affordable price, substantial fillet size for an average family, good taste and medicinal uses are the main reasons cited for consuming lungfish. Folkmedicinal purposes mentioned in interviews include treatment for problems with lactation; using lungfish pancreas to treat alcoholism; lungfish tail is said to enhance males’ sexual performance; and a daily meal is claimed to boost the immune system against HIVAIDS infections. Other attributed benefits to humans include treatment of kwashiorkor, gonorrhea, breast cancer, backaches and general revitalization of the body (Kayiso 2009). Popular kiosks that sell Nile perch by-products (‘fille’) are now featuring lungfish products. Low-income residents, particularly youth, support this business and some derive a livelihood from it. In Kampala suburbs and rural town centers, women own the majority of these kiosks, selling fried lungfish chunks and boiled lungfish soup during the evening. Furthermore, women actively engaged in the lungfish trade also access financial credit to expand their businesses, as evidenced in fish markets located in Kampala and Wakiso districts (Fig. 5). Six restaurants in the survey area have lungfish on their menu, preparing fresh, smoked and fried fish meals. Some restaurants in Kabusu and Owino centers (Kampala district) specialize in selling fried lungfish pieces. Outlook and Research Needs We now have a preliminary understanding of the indigenous practices and potential for lungfish aquaculture in Uganda and perhaps more broadly in sub-Saharan Africa. Fish farmers have inadvertently cultured lungfish that enter ponds during seasonal floods. They have developed local knowledge about handling and managing lungfish in natural water bodies and culture systems. Initiatives to culture a new species such as lungfish builds on this knowledge. Integrating indigenous and scientific knowledge can improve subsistence aquaculture production (Madamba 1979, Breidlid 1998) when a lungfish aquaculture production program is developed. Promoting wider levels of lungfish production requires articulation of model production strategies and best management practices that account for the burrowing and mobility behaviors of lungfish. Lungfish farming, therefore, may be better suited to production systems such as cages or tanks. Inadequate information is available on the growth potential and nutritional needs of farmreared lungfish. Lungfish survive and grow with tilapia, for example, but optimal feed composition is not yet established. Lungfish can be raised on artificial diets, inasmuch as fish farms apply commercial pellets to feed catfish or tilapia. At present, growers rely on wild-caught lungfish fingerlings or juveniles to support the limited culture that is currently taking place. Research is needed to clarify the reproductive cycle of lungfish in captivity to enable spawning in a hatchery setting and seed-stock production of uniform batches of genetically selected fish. Greater understanding of lungfish biology, especially reproduction and spawning, is needed to establish a foundation for commercial aquaculture. Efforts to domesticate African lungfish are foundational to the advance of a commercial sector. The socioeconomic viability of African lungfish as a new culture species is just beginning. Despite the absence of appropriate culture technologies, African lungfish conforms to criteria suggested by Webber and Riordan (1975) to select suitable candidate species for aquaculture. The central issues of reproduction, feeding and management must be addressed to support development of the production part of a value chain for cultured lungfish. The value chain should deliver quality products to consumers and provide a sustainable return to small- and medium-scale producers in Uganda and elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa. Notes 1 National Fisheries Resources Research Institute, Aquaculture Research and Development Center-Kajjansi, P.O. Box 530, Kampala, Uganda. 2 Office of International Agriculture, 108B Comer Hall, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849-5406, USA. FIGURE 4. Women selling lungfish at the Bwaise market in Kampala. (CONTINUED ON PAGE 42)
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