Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

Vol 26, Issue 2, 2020; Page No.(824-831)

CULTURE OF COMMON CARP (CYPRINUS CARPIO L.) IN BASRAH GOVERNORATE, SOUTHERN IRAQ; CURRENT STATUS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT

Arafat R. Ahmed, Jihad M. Al-Zewar, Nadia Al-Mudaffar Fawzi and Adil A. Abulhasan

Abstract

The present study aims to assess the status of the carp culture industry in Basrah governorate, south of Iraq. The survey revealed that the cage culture is the appropriate and preferred method in the study area. Feed, severe water quality and quantity problems are the main limiting factors for the aquaculture sustainability in Basrah. There are many unauthorized fish farms in Basrah. Thus, it is difficult for the Basrah Directorate of Agriculture to estimate and/or define the total productivity of fish farms. The present study concludedthat the aquaculture projects in the province are economically unsustainable due to poor project management, shortages of raw materials for feed production, the high price of imported feed and the difficulty in competing with cheap imported fish. In general, the farmers are struggling under poor environmental conditions such as high temperatures and elevated water salinities, deficient or dearth of investments, lack of training and vocational education in aquaculture etc. Henceforth, this paper is set to review these issues and suggest a host of practical solutions to overcome these issues.