ARTICLE - AQUACULTURE IN MACARY

AQUACULTURE IN MACARY, RECEIVES ASSISTANCE FROM SPAIN
(Haiti Libre) -

As part of a "Project of support to the development of aquaculture and inland fisheries in the Southeast Department of Haiti", a room has been built for the storage of materials, with equipment for fishing and livestock production, and was inaugurated Wednesday, February 29, for the benefit of the Committee of Watershed Management and of the Pond de Macary (COGEBVEM). Among those attending the inauguration were: the Director of the Departmental Direction of Agriculture for the Southeast (DDASE), Mr. Pierre Claudel Alexandre, and Ms. Carmen Arce Rodríguez, Coordinator General of the Spanish Cooperation in Haiti.

This project, implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development (MARNDR) through the Directorate of Fisheries and Aquaculture, and under the supervision of the Departmental Direction of Agriculture for the Southeast, and with funding from theSpanish Cooperation, "aims to improve food security, and living conditions, of communities in aquaculture potential through the development of fisheries and livestock with natural ponds and lakes in the Southeast department," explained Marie Carmèle Joseph, project director.

This project has a total budget of 585,000 euros (± 700.000 dollars), and will begin its third phase. 6 associations that are part of the watershed Management Committee and of the Macary Pond; more than 700 people, will benefit from these new facilities.

Since 2009, the Ministry of Agriculture, with the support of the Spanish Cooperation, conducted as part of this project, characterization studies of the biomass and of the load capacity of the Pouillet Pond. Also, a program of stocking, and of the most suitable fishing species, defined on the basis of environmental and biological criteria, and economic efficiency, was developed.

On the other hand, actions of practical training for the enhancement and the promotion of the consumption of continental species have been developed, and support infrastructure to increase the efficiency of the aquaculture production, such as reception cages, and fry acclimatization.