Ebony Park to boost tilapia fish industry

The Clarendon-based HEART/NSTA Trust Ebony Park Academy is to become the epicentre of an initiative by the Ministry of Agriculture to boost the Tilapia fish industry through the training of farmers.

According to Agriculture Minister Floyd Green, his ministry is putting resources in the Academy to re-establish their fish ponds. The institution will be provided with free fingerlings - fishes that have reached a stage in their development where the fins can be extended, and protective scales have covered their bodies.

"Ebony Park [will be used] as a base for the next generation of fish farmers," said Green, who was addressing a recent groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a hatchery in Twickenham Park, St Catherine.

"If you are going to build out the industry, you have to have a strong training component. And what we want to do is have people going to Ebony Park to study fish farming, to learn the new methodologies and the new technology that we will bring, to develop the fish stocks that are used to our conditions," Green said.

Green further noted that the Jamaica Social Investment Fund has invested significant sums in the expansion of the aquaculture sector, and said people who prepare their own ponds will be supplied with free fingerlings for up to one acre.

"We are helping people to start their journey in aquaculture for food security, and because there are significant returns, you can make real money; so get trained, and get involved in aquaculture," urged Green.