As the Lenten season continues, many citizens turn to fish as their primary source of protein. However, this increased demand often places added pressure on marine resources.
While tilapia remains a popular and accessible option, it is frequently surrounded by myths and misconceptions. Local fish farmer Shivan Kurban is working to change that narrative.
He told TTT News that misinformation about the freshwater species continues to impact sales.
“The misconception that people have, it has a lot to do with information that would be put out on the internet that tilapia consume their own faeces. They consume human faeces. That people use growth hormones and antibiotics. Now, that might be in other countries, people might use growth hormones and antibiotics, but in Trinidad and Tobago, no, right? Some people would say that the fish have a high content of Omega-6. It is not necessarily true. It’s more about how the fish is raised.”
With a focus on aquaculture, Mr. Kurban has been breeding fish to support the local industry.
He noted that increased demand during Lent can lead to overfishing, making fish farming a more sustainable alternative.
“It’s just an easy fish to produce. It is something that we could actually rely on heavily as opposed to, you know, over-exploiting the natural fish resources because I’m sure one of the major drivers right now to the Lenten fish prices is the distance that they have to go for the fish, and that is because of the over-exploitation and damage that we are causing to the ecosystem through unregulated fishing practices, right? There are a lot of unregulated fishing practices.”
However, he said one of the biggest challenges facing fish farmers is the cost and availability of feed.
“We rely specifically on high-quality imported feed. We have local feed producers, such as NFM, but NFM feed, they only produce one size pellet, which is a very large pellet. It’s like five millimetres. But you have to remember, the fish start off very, very small, like maybe one centimetre. So you need to feed them high-protein food to bring them up to size before they could be able to handle that pellet.”
Unregulated fishing and overexploitation are also taking a toll on coral reefs, which support more than a quarter of all marine life. Mr. Kurban is now calling for stronger legislation and greater investment in aquaculture.
“We need the coral reef in order to have the small fish. If we don’t have the small fish, we can’t get the big fish, right? So, we need to put some kind of legislation in place in order to protect that. And, well, I definitely believe that aquaculture has the potential to relieve some of that stress, right? But, as I said before, in Trinidad, right now, aquaculture we are in the infancy stage, right? We do not have the technology, or we’re now trying to develop the technology, or learn the technology that would be important for shrimp farming.”
Although at a low rate in practice, fish farming promises possibilities that will not only be entrepreneurial but also a move towards sustainable practices benefiting the marine ecosystem.