Abstract
Mariculture has recently been adopted in many parts of coastal East Africa as a source of income and employment to many women and heartbroken fishermen who are the main victim of dwindling wild stock of aquatic resources. The sea cucumber (Holothuria scabra) has for long time been collected and sold as export marine product. Macroalgae (Eucheuma denticulatum and Kappaphycus alvarezii) are the common cultured seaweed species that provide hope for future increase in mariculture production. An experiment was conducted along the intertidal lagoon of Unguja Ukuu village in Zanzibar to assess the survival and growth performance of sea cucumber (H. scabra) in two separate pens under co-cultured systems with E. denticulatum and K. alvarezii. Juvenile sea cucumber H. scabra with mean weight (± se) of 67.18 ± 2.06 were integrated with the two common commercial seaweed in pen system for 10 weeks. The results revealed that the growth rate and survival of H. scabra, E. denticulatum and K. alvarezii were better under integration system. The growth of H. scabra was higher (1.038 gd-1) in pen systems co-cultured with K. alvarezii compared to 0.898 gd-1 in pen systems co-culture with E. denticulatum. Survival rate of H. scabra was higher (76%) in the pen systems co-cultured with E. denticulatum compared to that (70%) observed in pen systems co-cultured with K. alvarezii. The results suggest that the best integration of sea cucumber and macroalgae is between H. scabra and K. alvarezii. However, reliable source of H. scabra juvenile is essential for the future expansion of pen co-culture system.
Highlights
Seaweed (Eucheuma denticulatum and Kappaphycus alvarezii) farming in coastal areas like Zanzibar has become the solitary income source to many women and fishermen whose main income was obtained from capture fishery, which has experienced a dwindling decline
The results revealed that the growth performance of sea cucumber (H. scabra) was higher in pens co-cultured with seaweed (E. denticulatum) than in pens without seaweeds (116.83 ± 2.25 g)
Total organic matter in the sediments The results show that the amount of organic matter (OM) in the sediments was higher (3.11 ± 0.01%) in pens stocked with seaweed K alvarezii only and significant higher OM was recorded in pens with E. denticulatum (2.67 ± 0.05%)
Summary
Seaweed (Eucheuma denticulatum and Kappaphycus alvarezii) farming in coastal areas like Zanzibar has become the solitary income source to many women and fishermen whose main income was obtained from capture fishery, which has experienced a dwindling decline. Though seaweed farming is given high priority by coastal people in Zanzibar, farming activities are still of small-scale and many farming sites are located close to the shore within intertidal lagoons. Low price due to poor product quality as a result of poor farming technology puts farmers’ expectations from this business into delusion (Msuya et al, 2014). Beside several setbacks that seaweed farming business is experiencing in Zanzibar, still this small island is the leading seaweed producer in the region (Msuya, 2002) and contributes 5% of the global seaweed supply (FAO, 2010)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
