BY IRENE LAMUNU
Have you ever thought about practicing Aquaculture (farming fish) in Lake Victoria? Do you ever think it is possible for an ordinary person to farm fish in the lake? Yes, it is possible through Cage fish farming. Cage fish farming is a new venture in Uganda which is making some Ugandans smile all the way to the bank. This farming has been practiced in Uganda for 10 years now. Julius Adongol, a former Engineer at Nile Breweries turned into a cage fish farmer in Njeru, Buikwe district, shared his turning point. From the time he started Cage fish farming, he noted that it has not been an easy journey but he has fought tooth and nail to get his business to where it is.
Today, he has the moral authority to advise anyone willing to get involved in cage fish farming about the business. In 2019 when Julius saw an advert on NTV of a man scooping fish from Lake Victoria and telling viewers that they could own that, he got interested. What made it easy for him was the fact that he had already joined the fish trade, as he was buying fish from other people then selling it to DRC, Rwanda and Arua. He therefore knew the benefits of the business. Julius’ wife works at Nile Breweries as a Chemist. She has taken on fish farming as a side business while her husband has dedicated all his time to the business.
The fish business had become a game changer for the Odongols that when they got the opportunity to begin farming their own fish for trade, they took it on with open hands. However, Mr Odongol gives all the credit to Mrs Odongol explaining that she was Persistent and patient. He says that if it were for him, he would not have achieved what he has today. This is because he kept injecting money with no return but his wife kept pushing him and insisting that they go a step further. Odongol advises that Cage fish farming is not for the faint hearted because it requires a lot of patience, leave alone being a very expensive venture.
Today, he owns six cages with over 45,000 fish. When they decided to get into Cage fish farming in 2019, they hired people from the local community in Tongolo to manage the farm. They began with 10,000 fingerlings (baby fish) and only harvested 2,000 fish; they had lost 8,000 fish. They did not give up but instead injected more money into the business and hired a new farm manager with aqua knowledge and obtained another fish cage.
Unfortunately, the water oater cut the cage and ate some of the fish while other fish escaped into the lake. That should have been the stroke to break them but no, they instead added another cage to make four. By this time, the feeds had become very expensive; moreover, they were feeding the fish but not getting any returns.
Another big problem was the fact that they were feeding the fish with wrong feeds. This worsened the situation because although they managed to harvest the fish, they got very small fish, which was referred to as reject in the market, so they made another big loss. The Odongols decided to change the manager. They got a new manager who had experience in people management to whom they explained the losses.
The new manager advised them to get …constructing a 5×5 depth fish cage costs roughly Ugx 4.7 million. This cage would accommodate less than 10,000 fingerlings… fingerlings from different farms. They got the fingerlings in varying sizes and the mortality gap was reduced. They were thence able to realize the numbers of the fish and they managed the growth because they got the right feeds.
He has began realizing profits recently. Mr Odongol decided to make his own feed. He feeds his fish with floating feeds which he explains are better than the sinking feeds. Currently, when he harvests the fish, he sells them to traders who sell it in Busia, Arua, Congo and other parts of the country. He also sells to people around Kongolo village. He added that he is planning to export the fish in the near future.
He has quit his job to fully dedicate his time and energy to his project. He is a consultant in Cage fish farming and advised having the following to get involved in the business:
• Contact the fisheries department in your district
• Acquire water space
• Get an assessment of the water from NEEMA to make sure that it is not polluted and it can accommodate aquatic life
• Get a certificate from NEEMA and Fisheries
• Acquire an operations license from Fisheries
• Construct yourself a cage or cages- He constructed his cages locally using, plastic and metallic water pipes, round bars, plastic drums and fish nets
• You need trusted people and always find time to be present on site
Mr Odongol said that constructing a 5×5 depth fish cage costs roughly Ugx 4.7 million. This cage would accommodate less than 10,000 fingerlings. He noted that at the moment, a fingerling costs between Ugx 130-140. He said the initial feeding is not very expensive because a kilo of fish feed costs between Ugx 5,000-7,000.
