Egypt is the biggest aquaculture producer in Africa. With 900,000 tons of tilapia harvested annually, the country has risen to become the sixth largest aquaculture producer in the world. To support the sector’s rapid growth, there has been a considerable increase in the number of local fish feed plants supplying the market.
Skretting established its local company in 2008 to support tilapia farming. “Going back only as far as 2005, Egypt’s total aquaculture production stood at a modest 500,000 tons, so you can see how far it has come. Our role as the market leader is to support Egyptian farmers by helping them to maximize farm productivity. This is being accomplished by our sales and technical support team. We are also leveraging Egypt’s aquaculture industry through the excellent cooperative relationships we have established with international and national NGOs,” says Ayman Rostom, General Manager of Skretting Egypt.
Skretting Egypt launched a new product to the local market in 2019, Nutra for tilapia. The Nutra range consists of high-performance starter diets supporting first-feeding fry by providing the specific nutrients and right particle size for each life stage, from egg to fingerling. Providing high survival rates and robust young fish, these specialized feeds will contribute to the improved performance of hatcheries in Egypt and beyond. In fact, Nutra is already on its way to Kenya, Uganda, Cote d\'Ivoire and Mali.
The introduction of Nutra was recently followed by Protec for tilapia, a new functional diet especially designed to help support tilapia and enhance their ability to cope during challenging situations, including the hot summer seasons. Essentially, Protec helps to support the natural defenses of the fish, it supports the immune system and it optimizes the balance between fish, microbes and environment.
Egyptian tilapia farmer Beshir Atteia states: “Using Protec in the middle of summer gives the farmers starting with 1 gram fry the opportunity to reach the local marketable size in a very reasonable time frame. This is because it supports tilapia, helping them to overcome the high temperature season. It stabilizes the feed intake, which means we don’t have to stop feeding during these periods.”
Skretting Egypt’s future strategy is to export its diets throughout Africa, meaning these and other innovations will support the evolution of the continent’s aquaculture sector and also cement tilapia’s position as an essential food product.
