PRESS RELEASE
EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) #20 NORTH PARK STREET, BELIZE CITY, BELIZE223-1862/227-8744FAX 223-3082
AQUACULTURE PROJECT COOPERATION BETWEEN BELIZE AND TAIWAN will have the 3rd tilapia farming workshop, entitled“Capacity Building in Production and Marketing” in central farm
July 25, 2016, BELIZE CITY, BELIZE—
The Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan) is pleased to announce that AQUACULTURE PROJECT COOPERATION BETWEEN BELIZE AND TAIWAN will have the 3rd tilapia farming workshop, entitled“Capacity Building in Production and Marketing” in Central Farm (Cayo district) from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm on July 27th of this year. During this workshop, the participants can get the major information on how to design their own ponds for tilapia farming, how to manage their own ponds, and how to promote their products in the market and the real selling skills for their tilapia business.
In Belize, there are more than 100 producers who have ventured into to tilapia farming and have generated good revenues. Most Belizean still have not savored the delicious taste of farm raised tilapia. The Aquaculture Project , a joint venture of the Government of Belize and the Government of Taiwan, is continuously working hard to promote tilapia farming in all areas.
According to the global survey, the aquatic (fishery) resources is depleting in the whole world, including Belize. Ten years ago, the marine fish and the fresh water fish could be found in every market easily; but up until today, the consumers have to face the threat of contamination if they get fish from the river; and if they buy the marine fish then they would need to pay higher price since the fishermen need to spend more time to find their catch from sea. So one solution we can find today is to practice aquaculture and culture the fish on our own. Then we can safeguard the quality of fish for our daily meals.
Tilapia farming is one of the fisheries with less complexity and challenge for the small scale producers, because there are many local producers who have joined this business and made profits. For producers, major challenges faced today include: (1) the survival rate of their fish is still not good enough, (2) the production cost is still too high, (3) the market is limited of its scale and (4) the market price is not good enough. In order to help the Belizean tilapia producers to solve the problems aforementioned, the team of aquaculture project visits the producers and continuously provides technical assistance. Nonetheless, the aquaculture project has held several workshops yearly on tilapia farming across the country of Belize. A workshop entitled “Capacity Building in Production and Marketing,” will be held on July 27th in the Central Farm (Cayo district.)
With this event, the aquaculture project has invited 30 participants who are tilapia producers from the Cayo district, University students, the Government extension officers and other Belizean citizens who want to venture into this business. During this workshop, the participants will get the major information on how to design their own ponds for tilapia farming, how to manage their own ponds, and how to promote their products in the market and the real selling skills for their tilapia business.
The Project is expecting that all the participants will have a very good hand-on experience and improve their profits by getting the professional knowledge, skill and know how. For more information, please email to secretary.aquaculture@agriculture.gov.bz or call 652-8767.
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