Kenya Fisheries Officer Mastering Aquaculture at Auburn
by Kris McElwee
Auburn University graduate student and Kenya Fisheries Officer Bethuel Omolo is dedicated to improving the aquaculture sector back home. "Kenya's aquaculture production has not surpassed 1,200 metric tons for the past four years. Many farmers are giving up fish farming due to frustrating
harvests (tilapia, catfish, trout, common carp, etc.). Since the Fisheries Department is the major extension agency, there is a need for people with adequate knowledge of aquaculture to step in and improve this sub-sector of fisheries." After earning a Bachelor of Science in zoology from the University of Nairobi in 1981, Omolo became involved in fisheries extension work in 1982, working with artisanal fisheries on the Kenya coast for the Kenya Fisheries Department. In 1989 he moved to the Rift Valley Province, this time working with tilapia and catfish farmers. In 1986 Omolo earned a postgraduate diploma infisheries biology in Norway. Still a Fisheries Officer, he was transferred to Sagana Fish Culture Farm in 1997 and served as station manager. The CRSP Kenya Project is based at Sagana, where Omolo met and worked with Auburn University CRSP researcher Karen Veverica.
It was the Kenya Project that first brought Omolo to Auburn. He was invited to attend a study tour for CRSP host country research associates in late 1997 that included a visit to Auburn. Omolo was "generally impressed by the ongoing fisheries research and the linkage the University has with fish farmers here in Alabama." He returned to Auburn in 1999 to begin work on a Master of Aquaculture degree with funding from the CRSP Kenya Project. Tom Popma, a principal investigator on the Kenya Project and Omolo's major professor, is supervising his work on a research project to investigate feed conversion ratios in channel catfish.
Asked about the applicability of his association with the CRSP to his aquaculture interests, Omolo explained: "Since 1998 I have been active in fish farming extension. I have seen many farmers put so much effort but not realize much in terms of fish harvests. I personally enjoy working with fish and farmers, and my wish is to see the fish farming sub-sector develop in Kenya. There have been success stories in horticulture and I feel the same can happen with fish farming. Kenyans are very sensitive to what can provide an income, and therefore if the technicalities of fish farming are overcome, the private sector will definitely take up this economic activity."
Omolo feels that the results of CRSP research can benefit the citizens of Kenya by identifying problems in aquaculture at all levels from small-scale to commercial, preventing duplication of research by sharing experiences learned elsewhere, conducting relevant research, and disseminating the information to those who need it.
He also sees a potential benefit in "improved coordination between different fisheries institutions in Kenya and East Africa as a whole. This has been a big challenge as different institutions have disparate approaches to fisheries research and management, but the CRSP has attempted in a subtle manner to improve information exchange between the Fisheries Department, fisheries research institutions, and universities. Attachment [internship] of students from Moi University, Kenyatta University, and University of Nairobi at Sagana is one good example of CRSP involvement in information transfer."
Omolo will continue as an employee of the Fisheries Department when he returns to Kenya, where his role will be to serve as the link between research information and farmers. He is optimistic that he will be able to apply what he learns in his graduate work: "I feel that by the end of my stay at Auburn, I will be able to assist new and ongoing tilapia/catfish farmers if they need assistance from the Department. Before my experience with the CRSP, I never believed that tilapia could be grown commercially, but through the extensive farm visits and literature as well as personal interaction with tilapia farmers in the USA, I can see its potential, especially in the warmer tropical countries."
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