PROJECT REPORT Polish development cooperation programme

Implementation of Ecohydrology – a transdisciplinary science

for integrated water resources
and sustainable development in Ethiopia

The project is co-financed by the Polish development cooperation programme 2012 of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland

Project REPORT
PROJECT REPORT Polish development cooperation programme

Fish production, processing and utilization in the Lake Tana fisheries

Alayu Yalew
Bahir Dar Fishery and Aquatic Life Research Center

1. Ethiopian Fisheries Sector Overview

The importance of fisheries to the Ethiopian economy, until 50 years ago, was insignificant due to
abundant land-based resources and a sparse population density. But, from the 1940s and 50s, the rapid
population growth, which resulted in a shortage of cultivable land and depletion of land resources, forced
the people to look for other occupations and sources of food from water resources at a subsistence level.
Also, the rapidly growing demand for fish in the capital city by foreigners and modern town dwellers
contributed to the start of commercial fishing as a new practice in Rift Valley lakes (from the 1950s) and,
later, in Lake Tana (late 1980s). Even though no systematic survey and assessment of the potential of all
water bodies have been made, the rough potential harvest estimate from an area of 7,005 km2 and 7
main lakes, 2 small lakes and 1 reservoir was about 51,500 tons/year. Fishery potential for rivers and
other small water bodies is absent. According to the FAO (1995), an estimated annual potential of 25,000
tons has been calculated for River Baro.
There are very few reliable data on actual fish production in Ethiopia. Reyntjens and Wudneh (1998)
estimated that the total landings in 1996 were roughly 8,500 tons and rising rapidly. The FAO (2003)
estimated that in 2001, fish production was 15,400 tons.
The general view seems to be that the lakes in the south are heavily exploited. For 8 important
landing sites on lakes, the FAO (2003) estimated that off-take exceeds 60% of the potential in 7 sites and
80% in 5 sites (including Awassa where off-take is estimated at 140% of potential). Only in Lake Tana is
off-take dramatically less than potential (15-20%). The traders in Addis Ababa substantiate this trend that
fish size from the south is getting smaller and the catch is reduced from these over-exploited water
bodies.
Domestic supply is only supplemented by imports to a very small extent. FAO (2003) indicated that
36 tons of fish were imported in 2001. This import is likely to be mainly canned marine fish and high value
fish (possibly including small amounts of Nile perch from other East African countries) destined for big
hotels and supermarkets.

2. The nature and number of Lake Tana fishers, their bases and organizations

An estimated human population of two million resides on the islands and around Lake Tana.
Historical accounts show that the indigenous people who lived around the lake belong to the ethnic
minority Negada-Weyito. Fish used to be the main food source for this and other poor communities living
on the islands and areas surrounding the lake.
Lake Tana is one of the few African lakes which have not yet been damaged by introduced fish
species or major sources of pollution. Prior to 1986, Lake Tana fisheries consisted only of artisanal,
predominantly subsistence reed boat fishery. This type of fishery was limited to the shore areas and
targets the native Nile tilapia, Beso and Labeobarbus using locally-made fish traps and gillnets (length 15-
20 m).
th
Fishing in Lake Tana started around the 18 century by the Negada-Weyito community; the other
poor members of the communities gradually adopted the activity. In 1986 the Lake Tana Fisheries
PROJECT REPORT Polish development cooperation programme

Resource Development Program (LTFRDP) was started by a Dutch non-governmental organization the
Interchurch Foundation Ethiopia (ISE-Urk) in collaboration with the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the
Ministry of Agriculture. The assistance program targeted the poor fishermen around the Bahir Dar Gulf
area and nearby islands by introducing modern fishing gear and motorized boats.
The LTFRDP created new opportunities for the fishers, extending their fishing area from the shore to
deeper, offshore waters and, more importantly, to distant river mouths. Moreover, with the increase in
catch, fish processing, marketing and net-making activities emerged as job opportunities for the
surrounding communities.
Currently, four major types of fisheries exist, characterized by the following specific combinations of gear
and fishing crafts:
1) the motorized gill net (mesh sizes 10-12 cm) fishery based in Bahir Dar and now expanding into
10 bordering Woredas;
2) the traditional reed-rafts-gillnet (mesh size 6 to 10 cm) around the lake and mainly in the
Southern part;
3) the traditional reed-rafts-gillnet ( mesh size 10 to 12 cm) around the lake;
4) the chase and trap fishery (mesh size 6 to 9 cm) based in the southern part of the lake.

Gear such as long-line, cast net and traps are occasionally used but contribute very little to the total fish
catch.
The traditional reed boat fishery is still important for remote areas of the lake. Reed-boats
normally carry only one fisher and catch is collected early morning. The catch from this fishery is sold at
small markets in the village and used for household consumption. They target mainly tilapia fish species.
The recently introduced motorized fisheries mainly target bigger markets. This fishery method
uses engine boats with 100 m long gillnets of 10-14 cm stretched mesh size. The motorization program
was accompanied by the organization of the fishers into an association and subsequently with technical
training in net-making, fish processing and engine maintenance. The motorized boats are mainly steel
boats. There are about 25 motorized fishing boats on the whole lake, most of which land their catch in
Bahir Dar (either directly or via a collector boat).
The advantage of belonging to a fishers’ associations is that credit and technical assistance becomes
available. The Tana Haik I Fishing Co-operative was the first fisheries association in the country to be
established before 15 years in the Southern Gulf of the Lake Georgis (a local trader-cum-fishing
organization) and the Zege Fish-For-All association are recently organized and functional associations
since 2006. Other associations are now emerging across 10 surrounding Woredas and it is anticipated
that each Woreda will have at least 1 association with 80-120 members. According to this study, it is
estimated that 1,300 fishers will be organized in associations with modern fishing methods.
Many cooperatives are just at a starting phase where they are not fully engaged in production and
marketing activities and some still heavily-supported by government or by projects, but others (such as
Tana Haik I Fishing Cooperative) appear to be well-managed as producer cooperative enterprises. The
Tana Haik I Fishing Cooperative has sought to incorporate smaller producer groups operating at Kebele-
level, in a bid to improve efficiency and realize economies of scale.
The lake fishery has employed more than 3,000 individuals who are directly dependent on the
major activities of fishing, marketing and processing for their livelihood. It is also providing employment
opportunities to women and other landless people, such as ex-soldiers, as well as the fishers.
PROJECT REPORT Polish development cooperation programme

3. Production, processing, distribution and trade of fish of Lake Tana

3.1. Production

Fishing in the Lake Tana fisheries is both artisanal and commercial. These days artisanal fishing (use
of reed or papyrus boats) is being replaced by commercial fisheries using motorized boats. Every day a
trip is made to catch fish and a single trip is made by 2 fishers in a boat with 20 gillnets of 10 cm stretched
mesh of 100 long and 3 m deep. Fishing is mainly made in the north eastern Flood plain of Lake Tana
where mass of Nile Tilapia fishes prefer and Labeobarbus fishes migrate for spawning. Fish produced
from Lake Tana varies by species, time and space. Temporal variations are visible between
months/seasons and years.
According to the report of BoA (2011), total fish production in the Lake Tana fisheries increased from 756
tons in 2000 to 6561 tons in 2010 (Fig.1). Data towards the fish produced by major producers all over
Lake Tana has been collected. Hence the contribution of the Lake Tana No.1 fishers cooperative during
2010 was 415 tons and that of Fish production and marketing industry (FPMI) was 232 tons. When the
fish produced for the last 5 years is compared the biggest production was made by Lake Tana No.
fishers’ cooperative with the total fish production of more than 3160 Tons (Table 1). On the other hand a
total of 1317 tons of fish was produced by the Fish production and marketing industry for the last five
years (2008 -2012) as indicated on table 2.

6561
7000
P ro d u ctio n (to n s)

4 735

6000
41 12

5000
274 4
2703

4000
1413

3000
1470
125 2
1109

10 01
922

885

97 5
7 56

2000
846

Fig. 1 Total fish

1000 production in
the Lake 0 Tana fisheries
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
from 1996 to 2010,
according to
the report of BoA (2011).
3.2. Processing

Fish which is produced on the Lake Tana is presented either as Gutted whole fish, filleted or dried.
Fish that is not prepared in to gutted whole fish or filleted fish is used as dry fish and prepared for export
to Sudan. The proportion of fillet from 1 kg of whole fish is 320 g for Tilapia, 400 g for Labeobarbus and
450 g for catfish. The fish used as dried fish includes those that died during transport from landing sites to
the processing unit and under sized ones for all commercial species. The part of the fish removed during
filleting is thrown to the lake as unusable part. Only small amount of this fish (two qt/day) is taken by
animal feed processing mill (Aba Wengelie) here in Bahir Dar.

Table 1. Fish produced (whole fish in Quintal) by Tana No.1 Fishers cooperative

Discarded
Year Tilapia Labeobarbus Catfish Total
& dried
2008 3193.93 924.52 703.70 445.66 5267.81
PROJECT REPORT Polish development cooperation programme

2009 2553.04 680.05 1418.96 0 4652.04

2010 2795.40 508.99 451.68 392.71 4148.78
2011 1432.51 156.49 215.57 240.66 2045.23
2012 2233.24 84.92 141.87 95.83 2555.86
Total 12208.12 2354.97 2931.772 1174.86 18669.72

Table 2. Fish Production and Marketing Enterprise fish trade data of 5 years

Year Tilapia Labeobarbus Catfish Total

2008 2301.91 408.51 493.18 3203.60

2009 1968.26 646.15 534.55 3148.96
2010 1663.25 181.12 475.73 2320.10
2011 1798.38 268.57 366.04 2432.99
2012 1760.01 133.14 168.63 2061.78
Total 9491.81 1637.49 2038.13 13167.43

3.3. Distribution and Trade of fish

Fish produced in the Lake Tana fisheries is mainly for domestic and export market. The produce is
stored in a cold store or deep freeze as gutted whole fish or filleted fish and sold mainly (90%) to Addis
Ababa. Distribution of this produce is mainly using vehicles equipping refrigeration facilities. Lake Tana
No.1 fishers’ cooperative currently used a very well equipped ISUZU car with a capacity of 5tons to
distribute fish to Addis Ababa every time. Before two years FPMI had been transported filleted fish to
Sudan. Other traders from Woreta and Infranz also took filleted fish for Addis Ababa market.
Fish which is not presented for domestic market and kept as dried whole fish is going to be exported
to Sudan. The exported amount increased from time to time, 33 tons in 2007 to 64 tons in 2012.

Table 3. Dried fish Market exported to Sudan for the last 5 years

S/N Year Quantity, Qt Export value, USD Price (USD/kg)

1 2012 6,426.00 323,150.00 5

2 2011 5,316.00 265,800.00 5
3 2010 5,676.00 293,250.00 5
4 2009 3,652.00 278,143.00 7.6
5 2008 3,513.00 333,928.00 9.5
6 2007 3,347.14 200,828.00 6
Total 27,930.00 1,695,099.00
PROJECT REPORT Polish development cooperation programme

4. Price setting, costs and benefits of the production/marketing chain

4.1. Price of fish

Fish price is determined by the demand and supply condition of fish in the Lake Tana fisheries in
general. The buying and selling price of fish by the fish producers and traders increased from time to
time. The price of a kilo of whole fish is almost doubled within five years of time (Table 4). And the selling
price of filleted fish is increased almost by three fold (Table 5).
Fish caught in excess during peak production season, like July to September and March to May, is
always dried using table salt and stored until exported to Sudan market. The value of this export helped
the country to earn nearly 1.7 million USD within 5 years time (Table 3). According to the report of the
Custom Authority, Shehedy Branch at Metema, a total of 1460kg fish has been exported at the first
quarter of this fiscal year (July – September, 2012). From this fiscal year export only, the country has got
73 thousands USD. But unlike whole fish filleted or frozen fish, the value of a kilo of dried fish declined
from time to time and the highest value was recorded during the Ethiopian Millennium.

Table 4. Whole fish price (2000 - 2004 Ethiopia fiscal years)

Fish species Price of fish 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Tilapia Buying 5.00 6.00 6.80 7.00 10.00

Selling 6.00 7.00 7.80 8.50 12.50
Catfish Buying 3.00 3.00 4.00 4.00 5.00
Selling 4.00 4.00 5.00 5.00 6.00
Labeobarbus Buying 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 3.00
Selling 2.50 3.00 3.00 3.00 4.00

Table 5. Filleted fish selling price (Source: Fish Production and Marketing Industry)

Fish species 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12

Tilapia 23.80 27.00 32.00 40.00 65.00

Catfish 14.50 15.00 20.00 22.00 40.00
Labeobarbus 11.50 12.00 15.00 17.00 30.00

4.2. Costs and benefits of the production

Cost of production for a kilo of fish varies from season to season depending on the availability of fish
around fishing areas. In seasons like July to September and February to May production reaches above
the mean (Fig. 2). Peak production occurs during July and September, mainly during August and the cost
of production during this season drops. Hence individual fishers as well as cooperatives fetch large
benefit in this season. But in the other seasons the amount of produce dropped below the mean to the
extent that no fish has been caught in some months of a year (Table 6). During these period fishers,
mainly commercial ones, lose money and stop fishing.
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In a normal production season a single trip (a boat with 20 gillnets of 10 cm mesh size and 100m
long) is expected to bring 100 kg (one quintal) of whole Tilapia fish per day. The total cost needed (fuel,
boat, fishing net and human resource) for one trip or to produce one quintal of fish is 650 birr meaning
6.50/kg of fish. To transport this fish from landing sites to the processing unit, 80 more birr is needed and
the total expenditure reaches to 730 birr for one quintal of fish, i.e. 7.30 birr/kg.

Fig. 2. Cost of
production for a
kilo of fish during season (years 2007-2011). Dotted line indicate the average value.

Table 6. Monthly fish produce (Qt) by Lake Tana No. 1 Fishers cooperative

Fish produce in time

Month 5 years
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
total
January 175.27 644.70 389.87 595.59 46.00 1851.43
February 674.25 619.61 743.41 998.19 100.24 3135.69
March 1319.25 882.47 888.63 642.08 381.15 4113.58
April 702.75 349.94 272.27 166.54 450.10 1941.60
May 1005.78 219.86 126.67 43.06 386.83 1782.19
June 556.08 485.01 278.44 219.23 329.67 1868.42
July 439.73 341.10 732.42 358.43 208.93 2080.61
August 6837.27 304.89 179.34 2.83 0 7324.33
September 349.36 282.37 7.32 0.56 4.82 644.43
October 304.19 0 403.80 0 44.79 752.78
November 232.95 489.75 672.99 85.14 35.30 1516.14
December 533.73 268.88 38.72 56.61 0 897.94
Sum 13130.61 4888.58 4733.876 3168.258 1987.828 27909.15
PROJECT REPORT Polish development cooperation programme

All the fish produced from the lake and transported to the center cannot be sold as it is rather
processed and filleted. From the fish collected in a single trip (100 kg fish), it is possible to produce 32 kg
of filleted fish. This filleted fish can be wrapped with plastic bags to present for the customer and
additional 26 birr is needed. Hence, the total cost expended to prepare fish collected in a single trip in to
filleted fish is 756 birr (Table 7).
According to the current tilapia fish price (Table 4 & 5), a single trip can give a net income of 520
birr for whole fish and 1324 birr if filleted. Fishers can make more money by processing and selling filleted
fish rather than whole fish.

Table 7. Cost of production

S. Expense title Unit Qt Unit Total Remark

No. price price
1 Labor No. 2 100 200
2 Gillnet No. 20 9 180 A gillnet serves for 2 years
3 Fuel liter 12.5 20 250
4 Boat rent Day 1 20 20 600 birr/month
Subtotal (a) 650
5 Labor PDs 0.1 100 10
6 Fuel liter 3 20 60
7 Boat rent Day 0.5 20 10
Subtotal (b) 80 To produce 100 kg of fish
Total (a + b) 730 Net income (1250-730) is 520
8 Plastic bag No. 32 0.3 10
9 Fillet makers No. 32 0.5 16 100 kg whole fish gives 32 kg of
filleted fish; a kilo of fillet is 65
birr
Subtotal (c) 26
Gross Total (a + b + c) 756 Net income (2080 -756) =1324

5. Current knowledge about fish waste processing

Knowledge towards processing fish waste in to animal use is almost insignificant. All parts of a fish
removed during processing is thrown and damped in to the lake water unless and otherwise it is roamed
by the pelicans and other predators. The only processing unit which took the fish offal is Abawengele
animal feed processing unit. The processing unit does have a very small mill and it can accommodate
taking 100 kg of fish waste per day. Research project has been proposed by the Bahir Dar fishery and
other aquatic life research center to use this fish waste for compost preparation. But it was not accepted
during annual reviewing of research projects and no project is undergoing.

5.1. The postharvest losses

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The fish spoiled and/or died during collection or transporting is going to be isolated and keep dried for
export market to Sudan. The paramount loss made in the Lake Tana fisheries since long time is the post
harvest loss made by different individuals and groups. The loss made during the preparation of fillet in the
processing units is so high as the only part needed is the fish fillet; only 32% for Tilapia, 40% for
Labeobarbus and 45% for Catfish. Hence the fish part lost during this preparation is 49% for Tilapia,
55.4% for Labeobarbus and 50% for Catfish (Table 9) without considering the gut content as this is very
difficult to make use of it for animal or human. The quantity of fish offal that could be used for human
and/or animal, but damped to the environment, during 2011 is estimated at 210 tons (Table 8). If this offal
has been collected and sold for processor to change it in to feed, it was possible to get 210,000 birr per
year. The cost of waste fish sold for Aba-Wongele processing unit made by cooperatives and FPMI is 1
birr/kg. Failure in using fish offals forces the two organizations to lose more than two hundred thousand
birr in 2011.

Table 8. Fish lost (ton) during the last 5 years from fish produced by FPMI and Lake Tana Fishers
cooperative

Tilapia Quantity Labeobarbus Quantity Catfish Quantity

Year
produced lost produced lost produced lost
2008 549.6 269.3 133.0 73.8 119.7 59.8
2009 452.1 221.5 132.6 73.5 195.0 97.7
2010 445.8 218.5 69.0 38.0 92.7 46.3
2011 323.0 158.3 42.5 23.5 58.1 29.1
2012 399.3 195.7 21.8 12.1 31.0 15.5
Total 2169.8 1063.3 398.9 220.9 496.5 248.4

5.2. Percentage of the fish waste suitable for human and animals

Proportion of the fish waste suitable for human consumption and animal feed is given in table 9.
Generally from the fish part removed and thrown to the environment, major proportion is the one used for
animals. In a kilo of whole fish; 16.5% in Tilapia, 50% in Catfish and 21.5% in Labeobarbus could
potentially be used for animal feed. The proportion of fish that could be used for food is 32.5% and 33.9%
for Tilapia and Catfish respectively (Table 9).

Table 9 Proportion of fish used for human and animal food/feed (Data source: Average taken from 20
samples of each who has 1kg total weight).

Weight(g) Tilapia Catfish Labeobarbus Remark

Whole fish 1000 1000 1000
1. Gut content (not important) 190 (19%) 50 (5%) 48 (4.8%)
2. Fillet 320 (32%) 450 (45%) 398 (39.8%)
3. Offal - potential for human use 325 (32.5%) NU 339 (33.9%) No trend of using
Catfish removal
4. Offal - potential for animal use 165 (16.5%) 500 (50%) 215 (21.5%)
5. Offal used for Animal including 355 550 263
gut content
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5.3. Postharvest losses of the fish destined for export to Sudan

In dry fish marketing there are different groups of users; consumers, producers, middle ones and
exporters. Fish is dried either in an open air by fishers or by traders using salt. Mostly fish prepared by
fishers during rainy season didn’t get well dried and hence traders add salt in it and damped in a store
until sold. These preparations had an impact on the dry fish and fail to keep its quality. This lower quality
dry fish is bought and sold with lower price as compared to very well salted air dried fish. Dry fish export
market to Sudan is very attractive (Table 3) and there is no significant postharvest loss. But the market
value decreased through time and this not related with the fish but with currency exchanges.
The price of dry fish varies in time and species of fish. Fish which is salted very well and dried open
air has an attractive market (Table 10) compared to the one prepared during rainy season using only salt
(poorly dried). The reason behind is the one dried in open air has no cost for salting and other processes.
Air dried fish has good demand by the local people in special occasions in addition to exporters.

Table 10. Local price for dry fish in 2012 (Source: Woreta traders)

Buying price (birr/kg)

No. Species Salt dried Selling price (birr/kg)
Salt and air dried
(Yetajele)
1 Tilapia 2.00 3.00 6.00
2 Catfsh 8.00 13.00 16.00
3 Labeobarbus 5.00 8.00 10.00

6. Facilities and conditions during processing

There are no storage facilities in all landing sites and no any other cooling system with collection
boats as well. Fish caught from the lake wait in the landing site until collecting boats arrive and took the
fish for processing units at Bahir Dar. FPMI has a cold store with a capacity of freezing about 12 tons of
filleted fish. This product stays stored until the demand comes. The storage temperature of this facility is
°
about 25 C below zero. In addition to this store the FMPI do have 3 deep freezers in their shopping places
at Bahir Dar and another 3 in Gondar. Each of these freezers stores 300 kg of filleted fish. The source of
energy for all cold stores and facilities is Electricity. The cost of electricity is not more than 3000
birr/month. But the cold facilities need to renew their gas inside and it costs about 4000 birr/year.
On the other hand the Lake Tana No. 1 fishers’ cooperative has a cold store with a full capacity of 3
tons, 7 additional deep freezers each of which can freeze 100 kg quintal frozen fillet and refrigerated
vehicle with a capacity of 5 tons.
The capacity of the FPMI to process filleted fish is 300 kg/hr. Hence this unit can produce 24 quintals
of fish/day. The processing unit is very well equipped with fillet making stands and other facilities so that
sanitation is not a problem as compared to cooperatives and individuals way of making fillet. The
°
processing unit is cooler with an indoor temperature of below 20 C compared to the lake Tana No.1
°
Fishers cooperative with a temperature of 25 C during processing.
6.1. Availability of facilities

Most organizations producing (except landing sites) and processing fish has reliable electricity supply.
Electric energy is available most of the time unless intermittent interruption that last within 30 t0 40
minutes.
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In case some failures happen on motor boats and others fishing gears, there are institutional and
individual workshops that can maintain these facilities. For instance the workshops of the cooperative,
the fish research center and Abel motor boat producing workshop can support. But there is no workshop
for the maintenance of fish storage machines unless few capable people who can make minor
maintenances to the machines.
Other facility that can bring some changes by using fish offal is “Aba Wongele” animal feed
processing unit and the drying technologies (Solar tent drier). Fish producers and processors can dry the
fish offal (waste) in a very short time using the technology and sell to Aba Wongelie feed processing unit
with a better price. This unit can use the dried fish to mill and make concentrate feed for animals. But
there is no any processing unit who can change the fish offal in to human use.

7. General overview of marketing systems, routs and actors for Lake Tana Fish

Fish from Lake Tana is produced and distributed to different places in Ethiopia and abroad by many
kinds of actors with different quality and price. Some of the main actors include:

7.1. Fishers
A) Fishers (using motorized boat)
• Fishers working with motorized boats mostly sell their produce to Tana Haik No.1 Fishers Co-
operative and FPMI.
• Sometimes they also sell to other local customers or traders coming to their landing sites,
mainly those found in Bahir Dar town, Woreta, Infranz and Chuahit.
• Most fishers around Bahir Dar town are members of cooperatives or fisher groups, they sell
their fish to their organization.
B) Fishers (working with reed boats)
• Fishers working with reed boats (Tankua) sell fish to different customers including: Tana Haik
No. 1 fishers Co-operative, Giorgis fishers group or other local collectors
• They also sell to retailers/hotels/restaurants and consumers
• They also occasionally sell to traders coming to the lakeshore/landing sites

7.2. Fish Production and Marketing Industry

Fish Production and Marketing Industry is the sole producer & distributor of quality fish in Ethiopia
and is the only exporter of fish (frozen) from Ethiopia. It has a lion share in the local fish market since
established in 1988. It has braches at Bahir Dar, Ziway, Hawassa and Arbaminch. It is also the main
supplier of fish especially frozen gutted and filleted fish from Lake Tana to Addis Ababa. FPMI preserves
the fish through sensory/Organoloptic assessment/ and keeps the fish in good quality and hence keeps
customers from microbiological hazards. They use "Cold Chain" deep freezers and, good manufacturing
practices / to minimize risk of contamination.
The Market Chain of fish through the FPMI is:
• Producers (fishers/cooperatives) FPMI (Bahir Dar) Addis Ababa and Gondar FPMI
whole sellers/retailers/hotels, supermarkets and consumers.
• FPMI retails in Bahir Dar or Gondar/or sends to Addis Abeba to sale the fish through FPMI
retail outlets or to institutional clients in Addis Ababa
• As the industry makes semi processing of fish before distribution, they also sell small amount
of fish byproduct to animal feed processor (AbaWongele); otherwise it is disposed (especially
during high production season) to the lake.
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• This is because they have limited capacity to store and to further process produced fish and
by products of semi processing activities.
• The Enterprise at Bahir Dar for instance has only one cold store with a capacity of about 100
quintal of frozen filleted fish product. However, they put about 10 quintals of filleted fish to be
frozen in 24 hours each day until 100 quintal of full capacity.
• In addition they have about 3 deep freezer in Bahir Dar and 3 in Gonder FPMC shop each
has a capacity of 3 quintal of frozen filleted fish.

7.3. Lake Tana No.1 & other Newly emerged fish producer cooperatives/groups

These cooperatives both produce and distribute fish to different actors/customers such as the FPMC,
whole sellers, retailers, hotels/restaurants, consumers, other traders coming to their place of
production/distribution center.
• The Lake Tana No.1 fish cooperative sell fish to FPME mostly 3 days/week
• 2 days/week, the Co-operative send the fish to their own fish distributing shops and sells in
Bahir Dar (through their retail outlets)
• The Lake Tana no 1 Fish cooperative has 1 cold store with a full capacity of 30 quintal and 7
deep freezers with a full capacity of 1 quintal frozen fillet each.
• They also semi process fish to fillets and gutted fish in addition to selling whole fish.
• They sometimes send fish to traders in Addis Ababa or sell to others who come from Addis
Abeba or other places.
• They sale the dead fish as a by product to other dried fish traders/or dump it back to the lake
due to the same reason as mentioned above
• Others also sale fish to local traders or to those who come to collect fish from their landing
sites

7.4. Fish Traders: Local collectors and coming traders from elsewhere, Metema / other places

7.4.1.Frozen/Fresh fish traders

• These type fish traders mostly have local fish collectors and send the fish to Addis Ababa
market.
• The local collectors buy fish from individual/group fishers and store at towns at the road side
like Hamusit, Woreta, Enfranze etc.
• They come collect and transport it with vehicle with refrigerator or some times by normal truck
at night to minimize spoilage.
• The rout for such type of fish trade is: Fishers local collectors (from landing sites)
collectors at towns transporters traders at Addis Ababa or other big towns

Destination of fresh/semi processed fish

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Bahir Dar, Gonder, Addis Consumers/local

Ababa, local consumers Bahir Dar, Gondar, Addis
communities at the
Ababa, local consumers
near by small towns

Bahir Dar

Kunzla &
CHUAHIT Delgie

Woreta

Enfraz &
Maksegnet

SOUTHERN TANA EASTERN TANA NORTHERN TANA WESTERN TANA

Bahir Dar, Zegie, Dera, N. Fogera, Libo Kemkem, Gorgora and the Alefa/Takusa districts
Achefer & the surrounding Gonder Zuria districts surrounding & the surrounding
Sources of fresh/semi processed fish
Source: Berihun et al., 2009

7.4.2.Dried Fish traders

• Collected from the fishers by local collectors
• Sell to other traders who come to their locality
• Then the dried fish traders sell the product directly to other traders/retailers coming from
Sudan, other bordering places: especially in the northern part of the lake, which looks like
as follows
PROJECT REPORT Polish development cooperation programme

Destination of Dried fish

Sudan - Bahir Dar, Gondar, Addis Ababa &
Wolkaite, Humera & Armacheho
Gedarif local community Share

METEMA

Kunzla &
CHUAHIT Delgie

Woreta

Enfraz &
Maksegnet

SOUTHERN TANA EASTERN TANA NORTHERN TANA WESTERN TANA

Bahir Dar, Zegie, Northern Fogera, Libo Kemkem, Gorgora and the Alefa district & the
Achefer & the surrounding Gonder Zuria districts surrounding surrounding
Sources of dried fish
Source: Berihun et al., 2009

8. Major Constraints in Post harvest handling and Marketing

• Limited lakeside access and utilities (electricity, clean water, communications) in some places
restricts the fishers to produce relatively better quality fish and generate reasonable income
benefit from the fish the produced, and reduce wastage
• The distance to Addis Ababa contributes to high risk of spoilage and increase waste
• Fish from Lake Tana has a bad reputation for quality (off-smell) due to poor handling
and loss of quality because of limited options for conservation and time/distance from
trading points.
• Limited buyers at the locality with limited capacity has also impact on the price and
timely sell of quality fish
• Financial constraints to acquire important materials like large cold storage facilities and
refrigerated transport to minimize risk of spoilage

9. Critical Constraints

9.1. Natural resources

PROJECT REPORT Polish development cooperation programme

Fish stock decline in the Southern part of the lake and overall decline of the unique Labeobarbus fish
species. Therefore, there is a need to minimize the post harvest losses to maximize the benefit from this
limited resource.
Wetland products and services are shrinking. This will cause loss of livelihood for many people around
the lake.

9.2. Human resource

There is critical shortage of skilled manpower in the fisheries and aquaculture sector in the regions as
well as at Federal level. In Amhara Region only 1 fishery expert is assigned at the Bureau of Agriculture
and Rural Development. There are no fishery experts at Zone, Woreda and Kebele level. There are about
6 researchers working on the fisheries and aquaculture in the region. Most of them focus on the biology of
fish. There are no experts in fishing gear technology, fish processing and marketing.

9.3. Access to infrastructure

Fish from Lake Tana is caught and transported by reed boat and motorized vessels. These boats are
old, inefficient and few in numbers.
There is critical shortage of landing, cooling and processing facilities around the lake. There is no also
ice on board to use it for preservation.
The fish from lake Tana to Addis Ababa and Sudan are transported by road with cold trucks. There
are only two trucks who handle the fish trade to Addis Ababa and Sudan. There is no air transport for fish
from Bahir Dar to any place. If Bahir Dar international airport upgrading is finalized, transporting fish by air
will be cost effective.

9.4. Access to inputs

Motors for boats, weather in-board or out-board, are not easily available in Ethiopia. It is also difficult
to obtain some spare parts. Floats and lead rope used with nets are also difficult to obtain in Ethiopia.
There is no ice making plant in Bahir Dar. Because of this fish during peak harvest time is easily
spoiled.
The rising world prices of petroleum and other resources are also putting upward pressure on the
price of fishing.

9.5. Access to finance

Many fishers in lake Tana lack the resources to buy fishing gears. Fishers around the lake are poor
who lack land and other resources. Therefore, they have no any alternative financial sources to invest on
fishing. The result is a heavy concentration on gear that is low-cost (tanqwa) or requires only labour and
local materials (traps).
There are two sources of credit in Lake Tana area. Amhara Credit and Savings Institute offers credit
at 18% per annum- a rate considered prohibitively high by many people in the fishing communities. The
second is the farmers’ co-operatives that make loans at 12.5% per annum, but are not present in all areas
and therefore not accessible to everyone.

9.6. Access to market

PROJECT REPORT Polish development cooperation programme

The major marketing constraints faced by the fishers are: (a) physical access to landing points,
collector boat collection points, and road side traders, (b) prices that are insufficiently remunerative to
fishes (particularly reflecting the high costs of landing the catch), and (c) loss of quality because of limited
options for conservation and time/distance from trading points.

9.7. Access to technology and know-how

Fishing techniques in Lake Tana is a mixture of artisan and modern fishing. Still there is huge
demand for modern fishing gears and techniques. This is due to lack of technology and skill. There was
no as such effort to train people on the fishery and aquaculture. There are no as such mechanisms that
provide knowledge and skill which are generated from abroad. The research system has started recently.
Therefore, there is not as such packed information that will help for development intervention.

9.8. Legal and regulatory environment

Recognizing the danger posed on most water bodies of the country, a National Fisheries
Proclamation was ratified by the Federal Parliament in 2003. It provides broad guidelines related to
resource conservation, food safety and aquaculture. This document puts considerable emphasis on
regulation, permits and the role of the fishery inspector. It is intended that the regional administration
should then use this as a broad framework within which their own proclamations are developed.
Accordingly, Amhara Region was the first region to develop its Regional Fisheries Proclamation in
2003. It covers the same area as the national policy, but has an additional objective relating to the
creation of employment opportunities in fishing communities. It also states that information, including
research findings, should be made available to the fishing communities. As with the National
Proclamation it relies heavily on regulatory measures (command and control) and the role of the fishery
inspector.
After the Regional Fisheries Proclamation, implementation guidelines should be developed. It delayed
for quite 3 years and in 2007, the Regional Parliament approved the Regional Fisheries Guideline. At a
national level, guidelines have now been developed and submitted to the council of Ministers. It is
surprising that it is still not endorsed at a Federal level where it affected the timely development of the
Amhara Region Guideline.
The Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development is mandated to the control and implementation of
the fishery resource.
The critical problem at this moment is that there is no any enforcement mechanism for the existing
legislation.
Moreover, there is no any guideline, legislation or licence requirement for aquaculture investment in
the region as well as at Federal level.

9.9. Institutional support

The fisheries and aquaculture administration is under the supervision of the Bureau of Agriculture and
Rural Development. This Bureau didn’t give emphasis on the subsector. It is not currently discharging its
responsibility with one man section at the Regional level. Other institutions like water resources,
cooperatives, investment, city council etc.. have also some relations with the fisheries.
Poor linkage and coordination, absence of effective line of communication to the filed level, lack of
attention for the subsector are among the serious institutional problems facing the sub-sector.
PROJECT REPORT Polish development cooperation programme

9.10. Public private sector relations

There are no as such any regional fisheries associations, society, etc. Therefore, at this moment
there is no potential for Public-Private-Partnership. It might be advisable to encourage the establishment
of such representative organizations.

9.11. Market competitiveness

Lake Tana is still a rich source of fish, which generally does not yet show signs of overfishing, but it is
relatively high cost source. With tightening in the market and rising prices, fish traders have started to
make interest in Lake Tana and a number of new small-scale operations have developed. High costs
stem from: high landed costs because there are relatively few places where fish can be landed (where
there is both access and amenities); the costs associated with shipping the long distance to Addis Ababa;
and spoilage associated with the time lapse from capture to freezing and during transit to Addis Ababa.
Moreover, there are big investors who are establishing fish processing plant. These investors who
target fish for export will introduce modern technology. Therefore, the price of fish will be better than ever.
Current instability in the production and marketing system suggests that the system itself is relatively
competitive, with affordability in the end market (in particular, Addis Ababa) exerting pressure on prices.
Certainly there are many buyers and many sellers (one condition for a competitive market).

10. ANNEXES

Annex 1. Monthly fish produce (Qt) by Lake Tana No. 1 Fishers cooperative

Fish produced in years

Month 5 years
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
total
January 175.27 644.70 389.87 595.59 46.00 1,851.43
February 674.25 619.61 743.41 998.19 100.24 3,135.69
March 1,319.25 882.47 888.63 642.08 381.15 4,113.58
April 702.75 349.94 272.27 166.54 450.10 1,941.60
May 1,005.78 219.86 126.67 43.06 386.83 1,782.19
June 556.08 485.01 278.44 219.23 329.67 1,868.43
July 439.73 341.10 732.42 358.43 208.93 2,080.61
August 6,837.27 304.89 179.34 2.83 0 7,324.33
September 349.36 282.37 7.32 0.56 4.82 644.43
October 304.19 0 403.80 0 44.79 752.78
November 232.95 489.75 672.99 85.14 35.31 1,516.14
December 533.73 268.88 38.72 56.61 0 897.94
Total 13,130.61 4,888.58 4,733.88 3,168.26 1,987.83 27,909.15
PROJECT REPORT Polish development cooperation programme

1999 Fiscal year

Month Tilapia Labeo Catfish Dried Total

September 130.4 116.33 100.18 51.72 398.63
October 170.42 55.94 90.97 25.79 343.12
November 158.39 47.01 134.02 16.4 355.82
December 50.82 30.45 40.14 2 123.41
January 133.31 13.82 25.27 2.87 175.27
February 529.92 71.31 56.53 16.49 674.25
March 1,074.92 118.45 87.01 38.87 1,319.25
April 538.94 36.99 67.13 59.69 702.75
May 438.24 56.04 280.65 230.85 1,005.78
June 425.02 41.41 38.46 51.19 556.08
July 285.81 55.41 41.67 56.84 439.73
August 4,527.11 716 1016.53 577.63 6,837.27
Total 8,463.3 1,359.16 1,978.56 1,130.34 12,931.36

2000 Fiscal year

Month Tilapia Labeo Catfish Dried Total

September 144.07 61.16 54.91 89.22 349.36
October 167.64 25.19 60.73 50.63 304.19
November 135.22 34.34 47.22 16.17 232.95
December 333.30 56.26 116.92 27.25 533.73
January 477.26 70.95 72.15 24.34 644.70
February 490.32 85.86 35.18 8.25 619.61
March 699.78 113.38 41.73 27.58 882.47
April 255.70 52.34 31.00 10.90 349.94
May 173.19 17.64 12.34 16.69 219.86
June 162.48 77.75 137.82 106.96 485.01
July 114.60 132.30 55.57 38.63 341.10
August 40.37 197.35 38.13 29.04 304.89
Total 3,193.93 924.52 703.7 445.66 5,267.81
PROJECT REPORT Polish development cooperation programme

2001 fiscal year

Month Tilapia Labeo Catfish Dried Total

September 43.89 66.21 172.27 0 282.37
October 0 0 0 0 0
November 302.97 49.28 137.50 0 489.75
December 145.51 45.18 78.19 0 268.88
January 242.26 71.63 75.98 0 389.87
February 599.37 91.94 52.10 0 743.41
March 724.45 110.74 53.44 0 888.63
April 203.57 46.00 22.70 0 272.27
May 62.98 29.31 34.38 0 126.67
June 88.23 31.29 158.92 0 278.44
July 91.80 59.34 581.28 0 732.42
August 48.01 79.13 52.20 0 179.34
Total 2,553.04 680.05 1,418.96 0 4,652.04

2002 Fiscal year

Month Tilapia Labeo Catfish Dried Total

September 5.60 0.47 0.57 0.68 7.32
October 234.83 64.92 65.93 38.12 403.80
November 452.58 65.05 101.957 53.41 672.99
December 30.10 4.38 3.91 0.33 38.72
January 410.81 73.14 89.438 22.20 595.59
February 765.22 117.21 52.064 63.70 998.19
March 495.84 114.44 23.51 8.29 642.08
April 131.47 18.571 6.38 10.12 166.54
May 22.37 4.147 7.96 8.58 43.06
June 58.56 9.84 50.14 100.69 219.23
July 187.38 36.523 48.44 86.09 358.43
August 0.64 0.31 1.38 0.50 2.83
Total 2,795.40 508.995 451.68 392.71 4,148.78
PROJECT REPORT Polish development cooperation programme

2003 Fiscal year

Month Tilapia Labeobarbus Catfish Dried Total

September 0.21 0.15 0.10 0.10 0.56
October 0 0 0 0 0
November 35.92 6.46 28.76 14.00 85.14
December 16.10 7.56 24.48 8.47 56.61
January 32.47 8.07 1.01 4.45 46
February 48.33 27.25 15.78 8.88 100.24
March 282.25 44.09 22.93 31.88 381.15
April 362.57 25.36 22.32 39.85 450.1
May 273.79 16.38 39.00 57.66 386.83
June 247.15 13.81 31.32 37.39 329.67
July 133.72 7.36 29.87 37.98 208.93
August 0 0 0 0 0
Total 1,432.51 156.49 215.57 240.66 2,045.23

2004 Fiscal year

Month Tilapia Labeo Catfish Dried Total

September 3.57 0.27 0.98 0 4.82
October 32.80 4.64 7.35 0 44.79
November 26.23 3.119 5.952 0 35.30
December 0 0 0 0 0
January 208.96 4.894 4.33 0 218.19
February 465.33 22.64 16.09 0 504.06
March 544.33 26.755 21.436 0 592.52
April 251.14 5.885 11.65 8.23 276.91
May 285.47 7.284 33.79 41.55 368.09
June 222.93 5.157 21.007 17.08 266.17
July 192.49 4.278 19.282 28.97 245.02
August 0 0 0 0 0
Total 2,233.24 84.92 141.87 95.83 2,555.86
PROJECT REPORT Polish development cooperation programme

Annex 2. Cost of production

(Current Cost of production expended for a single trip is considered. Normally fishers come with 100kg of
fish during this single trip. Fishers work for 305 working days in a year).

a) Costs related with fish collection

S.No. Expense title Unit Qt unit price total price Remark
1 Labour No. 2 100 200
2 Gillnet No. 20 9 180 A gillnet serves for 2 years
3 Fuel litre 12.5 20 250
4 Boat rent Day 1 20 20 600/month
Subtotal (a) 650

b) Cost of transportation
(Collection is made by three people and this person comes with 30 Qt of fish during normal production
season from landing sites. Costs of transport considered are labor, fuel and boat rent).

S.No. Expense Unit unit total

Qt Remark
title price price
1 Labour PDs 0.1 100 10
2 Fuel litres 3 20 60
3 Boat rent Day 0.5 20 10
Sub total 80
(b)
Total cost of production/100kg 730 Net income (1250-730) is 520
(a+b) birr

c) Processing costs
(Major processes made by fishers cooperative are filleting of a single trip. Then they will sell as fillet or
store for some time to take it to Addis.

S.No. Expense title Unit unit total

Qt Remark
price price
1 Plastic bag No. 100kg whole fish gives
32 0.3 10
32kg of filleted fish
2 Fillet makers No. 32 0.5 16
Subtotal (c) 26
Total cost of production/100kg(a + b + c) 756 Net income (2080-756)
is 1326 birr
PROJECT REPORT Polish development cooperation programme

Annex 3. Fish Production and Marketing Enterprise fish trade data of 5 years (October, 24/ 2012)

Nile Tilapia (kg) Labeobarbus (Kg) Catfish (Kg)

Year
(E.C)
Filleted
Whole wt Gutted wt Whole wt Filleted wt Whole wt Filleted wt
wt
2000 230,190.7
284,186.00 90,939.52 40,851.00 16,340.40 49,318.00 22,193.10
0
2001 196,826.0
242,995.00 77,758.40 64,615.00 25,846.00 53,455.00 24,054.75
0
2002 166,325.4
205,340.00 65,708.80 18,112.00 7,244.80 47,573.00 21,407.85
0
2003 179,837.8
222,022.00 71,047.04 26,857.00 10,742.80 36,604.00 16,471.80
0
2004 176,000.9
217,285.00 69,531.20 13,314.00 5,325.60 16,863.00 7,588.35
0
kg 1,171,828. 949,180.7 374,985.0 203,813.0
163,749.00 65,499.60 91,715.85
Total

00 0 0 0
Qt 11,718.28 9,491.81 3,749.85 1637.49 654.99 2,038.13 917.16
Ton 1,171.83 949.20 374.98 163.75 65.50 203.80 91.72
waste 222.65
Rate WW*0.81 WW*0.32 WW*0.4 WW*0.45

Annex 4. Dried fish Market exported to Sudan (Custom Authority; Shehedy Branch - Oct 31/2012)
S/N Year, Ethiopian Quantity, Qt Export value, USD Remark
fiscal year
1 2005 1,460.00 73,000.00 Till end of Sept/2005
2 2004 6,426.00 323,150.00
3 2003 5,316.00 265,800.00
4 2002 5,676.00 293,250.00
5 2001 3,652.00 278,143.00
6 2000 3,513.00 333,928.00
7 1999 3,347.14 200,828.00
PROJECT REPORT Polish development cooperation programme

Annex 5. Fish Production from Tana 1 fish cooperative, fish trade data of 5 years
Total Tilapia (Qt) Total Barbus (Qt) Total Catfish (Qt)
Year Dried
Filleted Filleted Filleted Total
(E.C) Whole Whole Whole
(32%) (40%) (45%)
1995 1,666.00
1996 2,656.00
1997 3,056.00
1998 4,022.00
1999 4,527.11 1,448.68 716.00 286.4 1,016.53 457.44 577.63 6,837.27
2000 3,193.97 1,022.07 924.52 369,808.00 703.70 316.67 445.66 5,267.80
2001 2,553.03 816.96 680.05 272.02 141.90 63.86 NA 4,652.04
2002 2,795.40 894.53 508.99 203.59 451.67 203.25 392.71 4,148.78
2003 1,432.51 458.40 156.49 62.59 215.57 97.01 24,066.00 2,045.23
2004 2,233.24 714.64 84.92 33.97 141.87 63.84 95.18 2,460.03

11. THE BAHIR DAR FISHERIES AND AQUATIC LIFE RESEARCH CENTER (BFALRC)

The Regional Fisheries Research and Training Center started its function in April 1999 under the then
Bureau of Agriculture (BoA). In August 2000, the training center was transferred to Amhara Region
Agricultural Research Institute (ARARI) and then renamed as Bahir Dar Fishery and Aquatic Life
Research Center (BFALRC) in 2003. Since its establishment, BFALRC has used the Gorgora site as sub-
center to monitor the Lake Tana fish resources at the northern part. However, the sub-center was closed
in 2005/06.

Vision
To be one of the prominent research centers in Africa in generating action oriented research outputs
towards achieving regional development objectives and changing the life of the population of the Amhara
Region.

Mission
To generate, promote and develop fisheries and aquaculture technologies that improve production and
productivity of fisheries and play its role in food self-sufficiency of the region.

Objectives
• Carry out integrated hydrographic and limnological study; monitoring of commercial fisheries,
effort and experimental biological study in lakes, rivers and reservoirs.
• Establish and maintain computer supported data collection system on the resource base in all
water bodies of the region.
• Identify activities that impose potential impacts on the fisheries resource base of the region, and
provide advice and information to setup regional fisheries policy and legislation.
• Increase fish production from capture fisheries consistent with sound resource management and
conservation of the biodiversity and improve incomes of fishers, through improvisation of pre and
post harvest technologies.
• Introduce appropriate aquaculture technologies to support the capture fisheries, generate income
for the region and create job opportunities for the citizens.
PROJECT REPORT Polish development cooperation programme

Research collaborations

The center has been collaborating with:

• Wageningen University, Netherlands focused on taxonomy, fish biology, fish ecology, fish
resource management and understanding the food web of Lake Tana.
• University of Wales, Aberystwyth contributed on Lake Tana palaeoecology.
• Joint Ethio-Russian Biological Expedition team doing research on the diversity of Lake Tana
Cyprinids – specifically on the Labeobarbus fish species.
• The Federal Agricultural Research Institute by coordinating the national limnology and fish
biology as well as conducting exploratory studies on the Lake Tana fisheries.
• Addis Ababa University by undertaking different post graduate studies especially on fish resource
identification and phyto/zooplankton.
• Bahir Dar University by conducting joint research on wetlands, limnology and resource
monitoring.

Research outputs

Lake Tana
• A total of 28 fish species were identified from the lake.
• For most fish species of Lake Tana, feeding behavior, breeding areas and seasons were
identified.
• Information was provided for the set up of regional fisheries policy and legislation. The Amahara
region has ratified a proclamation on fisheries and aquaculture based on the research results of
the center.
• Appropriate fishing gears were recommended for three commercially targeted fish species: Nile
Tilapia, Catfish and Large Barbs
• The stock biomass, maximum sustainable yield and catch per unit effort of Lake Tana were
estimated.

Fig. 3. The Bahir Dar Fishery and Aquatic Life Research Center

• Appropriate fish drying technology was identified.

• Human resource capacity building was carried out at undergraduate and post-graduate levels.
Rivers
• Diversity and relative abundance of fish species of 12 rivers namely; Gendewuha, Guang, Shinfa,
Ayima, Abat Beles, Gelgel Beles, Beshilo, Ardi, Dura, Angereb, Koga and Sanja were studied.
PROJECT REPORT Polish development cooperation programme

• A total of 37 fish species were identified. In general the fishes are included in 6 orders, 12 families
and 21 genera.
• The fish species belong to the families: Centropomidae, Cichlidae, Bagridae, Schilbeidae,
Clariidae, Mochokidae, Malapteruridae, Osteoglossidae, Mormyridae, Characidae, Citharinidae
and Cyprinidae.

Aquaculture
• A total of 30 farmers are participating on backyard pond fish farming.
• The farmers start integrating pond fish culture with vegetable production and poultry rearing.
• Three nursery sites established in different zones of the region and start hatching fingerlings for
the farmers.
• Different locally available agro-processing by-products important for small scale fish culture were
identified.
• Tilapia nursery was established at the research center. This hatchery provides fingerlings to the
farmers through Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Research Facilities
• Six earthen ponds for fingerling production.
• In door aquaria for crossing experiments on Labeobarbus species, larval developmental study,
prey-predator interaction and other activities.
• Eight outdoor basins for feeding experiment and prey-predator interaction behavioral studies.
• Dry and wet laboratory equipped with the necessary facilities and equipments.
• Six different capacity boats with engine, gillnets and other fishing gears.
• Workshop, fish cleaning shed and jetty.

Fig. 4. Outdoor and indoor facilities in the BFALRC Fig. 5. Displays of fish (preserved, live
and pictures) at BFALRC
PROJECT REPORT Polish development cooperation programme

The report „ Fish production, processing and utilization in the Lake Tana fisheries” is licensed under the
Creative Commons Uznanie autorstwa 3.0 Polska License.
Some rights reserved to the Alayu Yalew, Bahir Dar Fishery and Aquatic Life Research Center

The report was prepared within the Polish development cooperation program implemented through the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2012.

It is permitted to use the report, in condition of the above information will be kept, including information
about used licenses, information about the rights of the holders and information about the Polish
development cooperation program.

The publication expresses exclusively the views of the author and cannot be identified with the official
stance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland.