By OLIVER SAMBOKO
ZAMBIA is losing over K3.5 billion annually in fish imports due to government restrictive policy on production of hybrid tilapia, Sunday Chanda has said.
Mr Chanda, the Kanchibiya Patriotic Front Member of Parliament, says it is not economically prudent for government to continue restricting local production of hybrid Tilapia at a time when the country had a deficit of fish of over 70,000 metric tons.
He said currently, only fish farmers in three regions, Southern, Lusaka and Copperbelt provinces were allowed to grow hybrid Tilapia to the exclusion of other seven provinces.
Mr Chanda said it was hypocritical for the country to continue importing hybrid Tilapia fish and other species while at the same time implementing restrictions on the local production.
He said there was need to interrogate the policy as it was disadvantaging the Zambian aquaculture subsector which if well managed could make the country a net exporter of fish to the regional market and beyond.
Mr Chanda said a cartel of importers of fish were against allowing the country to grow enough fish because they feared that they would lose their hold on the local fish market.
“There is a cartel with this industry of those who import fish into Zambia would not want to local capacity to grow so they will fight anything that goes to improve local fish production so that they have a hold on the market,” Mr Chanda said.
He said some fish being grown by foreign companies was fed with questionable chemicals which could be a danger to consumers.
Mr Chanda said because of the refusal to lift the ban on growing of hybrid tilapia, farmers in the affected area are forced to produce fish varieties that take long to mature resulting in the high cost of production.
This, Mr Chanda said, had resulted in farmers who got loans from Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) for fish production to fail to pay back their loans.
Mr Chanda said it was sad that the same fish government had banned was the same fish the country was importing from other countries including South Africa and China.
He said most water bodies have no economic value because of the captured fish has depleted due to harmful fishing methods.
“This can only be reversed by ensuring that water bodies are restocked through introduction of hybrid species like Tilapia,” said Mr Chanda.
He said the local Tilapia takes long to mature and was small in nature which was disadvantaging local farmers who have to compete for the market with farmers in areas where hybrid tilapia is allowed.
