Representatives from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) and Delaware State University (DSU) recently traveled to Ghana to promote opportunities in aquaculture and fisheries.
UAPB program participants included Dr. Rebecca Lochmann, professor of aquaculture and fisheries, Dr. Dayan Perera, extension aquaculture specialist, and Hannah Knuckles, a graduate student of aquaculture and fisheries. They were joined by Dr. Gulnihal Ozbay, a DSU professor and extension specialist in natural resources, as well as DSU undergraduate students Kevin Knight and Elijah Attley and Juan Ramos, a DSU graduate student and undergraduate alumnus of the UAPB Department of Aquaculture and Fisheries.
Dr. Ozbay hosted workshops on measuring water quality and conducting field testing for water quality; Dr. Perera worked with participants on building aquaponics systems to raise fish and vegetables simultaneously; and Dr. Lochmann taught about nutrition principles and diets for fish production. During one workshop, Dr Lochmann showed participants how they could use readily available ingredients, such as fish and vegetables from the local market, to prepare practical diets for tilapia production.
“We tried to keep the procedure as low-tech as possible – we were just using a meat grinder, mixer, and a pellet maker,” she said. “First, we had the ingredients milled – then participants mixed the ingredients by hand to make a sort of dough, which they later turned into pellets. The participants all listened carefully and were eager to learn the correct way to make the formula. When the fish feed pellets were ready, they took pictures and couldn’t wait to feed the fish.”
Read more at thefishsite.com