That would be great! Thanks for your encouragement!

Much appreciated! 🙏🏼

Thanks Gareth!

🙏🏼

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Thanks got watching and engaging. It’s certainly a tough one. Let’s not give up hope. 🙏🏼

I think that with the Kavango 1st prize is to keep the river as natural as possible. Hatcheries come with their own challenges - especially to the native / indigenous breeding stock and their dna that evolve with the river. I think aqua culture is a no-brainer when it comes to producing affordable protein, but I think they must be kept out of the natural environments.

@@Transkei_Stories Hi there! Thanks for the great documentary by the way. Aquaculture has many applications and can be approached in various ways, depending on what we want to achieve. What I was proposing was simply to breed with the river fish under controlled conditions, with a view to restocking the river directly afterwards. Catfish can be bred simply by removing the pineal gland from a male fish, located at the juncture between the hard bony plate of the head and the spinal cord with a surgical spoon (he will have to be a sacrifice I'm afraid), and admixing the pineal gland fluids, once crushed and mixed with sterile water, with the eggs of a female, which can be stripped as one would a trout. The eggs, now fertilized, are placed on mosquito netting in gently aerated water - fish tanks are perfect for the job, so long as they can be modified so there is a gentle free flow of fresh, clean running water through the tanks. Eggs have to be checked for fungal infections all the while and the infected eggs removed immediately until the eggs hatch out, and one can take it from there. The fish can be left in the tanks for a while and fed on fine, crushed aquarium pellets until they are big enough to release into holding tanks or dams and then released when they are fingerling sized. Mosquito larvae and chopped earthworms are ideal food for the fingerlings. Tilapia are best bred in ponds - breeding pairs (of the same species, which is important as they cross breed very well) are selected and placed in liner ponds or concrete dams and basically left to do their own thing in season. The adults can be removed once the fry are hatched, as predation may occur. The advantage here is that many thousands of fry can be raised without predation. The biggest challenge facing the aquaculturalist in Africa is predation by the local wildlife, so what works is bird netting placed over a sturdy wire grid affixed over the top of the tanks/dams/ponds and low voltage electrical fencing placed all around to keep otters etc out. It is also a good idea to have 24 /7 guards on duty in case anyone aside from the kingfishers, herons and otters gets any ideas during the process. Anyhow that is what I did with great success for a few years back in the day and wanted to just put the idea on the table for consideration. I agree that largescale aquaculture must be kept separate. But surely one could embark on such projects concurrently with a view to taking pressure off of the native fishes? It would really boost the local economy ... it's much easier and more cost effective to raise fish than to catch them. Fish that are raised in commercial facilities to a sellable size generally don't make it in the wild, but the fingerlings will. BTW when handling a tiger fish it's really best not to touch them at all - this removes the protective slimy layer on the scales and is probably the main cause of fish dying after being released. With tigers it's best to use a boga grip or similar or if the fish has to be handled for a photo, then a pair of wet rubber gloves works just fine, while the belly of the fish is supported. So long a fish are handled right, there's no chance of damage or mortality after release in my experience. All the best and keep up the good work!

I forgot to mention that the pineal gland fluid of the catfish (best to use fish of around 2kgs, both sexes) can be stirred into the sterile water with a small feather - sounds primitive but it works. Cheers

@@zeph6439 what does that do to the water?

@@Transkei_Stories kzbin.info/www/bejne/gna3mnmZfN9-gposi=Uuf0hfWAw0E0VNkN

I’m not sure that over-population is an issue all over Africa. Rwanda is Africa’s most densely populated country and is 22nd on the list of the world’s most densely populated countries. Being poor is one thing that leads people to over-exploit natural resources. Are you suggesting that because they are poor they should reduce their populations? Should only developed countries be allowed to have a growing population? Ironically, developing countries are the ones with negative birthrates, a situation more dire than high birth rate.

@Transkei_Stories in today's world negative birthrate is anything but negative for the world as a whole. if you put a pause on world population now we would still over exploit non renewable resources and deplete the environment no matter what regulations we put in place. you have to be realistic, creating wealth in certain parts of the world such as remote parts of Africa, so that people do not need to love directly off the land and deplete their local environment is not realistic in countries with unstable and corrupt governments, fact. So yes I stand by my view that limiting and reducing populations in certain parts of Africa is the only way to prevent irreversible environmental degradation. Just look at Maputaland as an example, the areas around Kosi Bay, it's past the tipping point and that environment has been irreparably damaged due to massive increase in population. Same for many parts of Africa, be realistic not idealistic when dealing with Africa. Same goes with hunting, doing excellent work in building schools and feeding villagers living within their hunting concessions, leading to increased populations which in the long run will need more space, so if considering the model in a long term holistic view, it is not sustainable even if in the short term it seems to be

Relative to the rest of the world I live in a very rural and low population density area in the USA, and where on a practical level almost nobody is dependent on sustenance catching of fish to stay alive (despite what they might think). And yet our fisheries are still almost universally in decline, despite aggressive hatchery programs and severe restrictions on fishing. Population density and economic conditions are but one piece of the puzzle, it is a complicated and multifactorial problem. I don't hold out much hope for the fish.

Thanks for watching and getting it. I’ve also turned to catch and eat - and I haven’t caught a single fish. 🤣

@Transkei_Stories 🤣

Thank you!

Glad you enjoyed it

My pleasure. Thank you for watching.

There's millions in the US

Hey Chris - thank you! Hope you're well. Let's hope we can pick up production this year. Hard to find the money support!

Thanks James! I am encouraged.

Thanks Greg! happy New Year.

@@ARCDesigns yes we’ve just stayed at the stone cottages and same story, no access whatsoever.

My guess is that the Southern part is next on the exclusivity agenda. But first they have to make profit out of the Northern concession. And I think that is a far way off.

It's terrible. Exactly what they promised not to do. My guess is that the Southern part is next on the exclusivity agenda. But first they have to make profit out of the Northern concession. And I think that is a far way off.

That is exactly what we heard from one of the local wardens. He has been trying to tell the locals what this will mean for them. It seems to be a common story along the teanskei coast. We are now staying at the Haven Hotel, and it sounds like this reserve might go the same way, too.​@Transkei_Stories

We have a long list of questions for Oscar Mabuyane.

Thank you for watching and appreciating.

So sad.

It certainly didn't turn out like we expected in the 80's.

You can't even pay to see the waterfalls at the moment! Maybe it will change. See my comments above.

There are very few people who believe this is a good development model. You're right, the park is way too small for any exclusivity.

Hi. It’s been too long. I’ve had to stop priduction while I try find funding to carry on. I wish it never stopped, but I have to be realistic. On a positive note… I think the prospects are good. But it will take a few months to sort out. I look forward to getting back to work. Thanks for the encouragement and support.

​@Transkei_Stories only saw your reply just now. I opened this comment to see if there was any reply because I still have hope for continuation. I can fully understand it must be rather difficult for you. So much work and very little revenue. Success with your endeavours to bring it back to life. If you ever need a place to stay near Port Edward you must let me know. We have a holiday house there. I would be happy if I can support you like that😊

@@bertbakker6336 That's a very kind offer. Thank You! Our proposition is growing more lucid every day. I think we'll have traction within the next 6 months.

Hi. Thankfully, I understand that they are both in good shape, living and working in the Western Cape.

Thanks Damian!