Importation Of Tilapia Banned by Government

• Posted on June 27, 2018
• by Ellsamwise King
• Comment

The Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development (MoFAD) has placed a ban on the importation of tilapia and ornamental imports due to the Tilapia lake virus disease.

Tilapia lake virus, or TiLV, is a virus infecting populations of tilapia. The virus is responsible for the decimation of some populations and was only discovered recently.

In a statement, the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development said the ban is one of the immediate actions being taken by the Ministry to help prevent and control the virus since its treatment is not known.

The statement added that the Ministry will follow up with capacity building and awareness creation programmes at different levels to farmers, hatchery operators, extension officers, and consumers and the general public to support the implementation of simple farm-level biosecurity programmes.

Below is the full statement

BAN ON TILAPIA AND ORNAMENTAL IMPORTS

Tilapia Lake Virus is a newly emerging virus that is associated with significant mortalities in farmed tilapia. The attention of the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development (MoFAD) has been drawn to the fact that, cases have been reported across Africa, Asia, and South America that the virus represents a huge risk to the global tilapia industry.

This means all countries should be vigilant and act quickly to investigate cases of mortalities in farms.

In line with this, the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development is with this release placing a BAN on the import of all ornamental fishes and tilapia species (live and dead) including gametes-eggs and milt into the country effect from 1st July to 31st December 2018.

The ban is one of the immediate actions being taken by the Ministry to help prevent and control the virus since its treatment is not known.

The Ministry will follow up with capacity building and awareness creation programmes at different levels to farmers, hatchery operators, extension officers, and consumers and the general public to support the implementation of simple farm-level biosecurity programmes.

Consumers and stakeholders are therefore advised to report any issues arising from or related to this issue to the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development. The Ministry will also update the public on any new developments on this in due time.