A Joint Effort in Aquaculture Development

NAAG members represent all elements of the industry, including farmers, entrepreneurs, feed producers, members of the government (research and development), and non-governmental organizations. NAAG also receives support from various donor agencies, including USAID/GTIS.

NAAG’s mission is the development of Guyana’s aquaculture sector; their vision is for aquaculture to become “. . . the leading economic sector in Guyana by 2015.” With assistance provided by USAID/GTIS, NAAG is also a member of the American Tilapia Association and the World Aquaculture Society.

Aquaculture: An Industry Diversifying Guyana

Aquaculture, or fish farming, is looking to become Guyana’s next big agricultural export. The Government of Guyana has recognized that due to the decreasing competitiveness competitiveness of their key agriculture products (rice, and sugar) it is essential that Guyana diversifies its agricultural economy. Market reports show that aquaculture is the world’s fastest growing food production enterprise, with growth rates of 8% per annum, coupled with projections for long term sustainability. Furthermore, Guyana is ideally suited to the commercial practice of warm water aquaculture: vast amounts of unpolluted freshwater resources, relatively large acreages of flat land, year round warm water temperatures, presence of suitable species for farming, suitable agriculture by-products for feed production, drainage and irrigation infrastructure and availability of unskilled family labor.

Aquaculture in Guyana: There’s History in Those Fish

Tilapia. Pacu. Hassar. Seemingly strange words to the uninitiated, but they form the backbone of what will soon become recognized as Guyana’s newest crop: farm-raised seafood, produced through a process commonly called aquaculture. Thanks to a unique public-private sector partnership involving the National Aquaculture Association of Guyana (NAAG), the Ministry of Agriculture and the United States Agency for International Development / Guyana Trade and Investment Support (USAID/GTIS) project, aquaculture is on a fast track to diversifying the future of Guyana’s agricultural economy, but unbeknownst to many, aquaculture - in one form or another - has a history in Guyana that stretches back more than 100 years. >> more

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