ProjectWHOI Zanzibar

$19,210.32

Thank you to all the donors, both at WHOI and via Hannah Pearson's Island Creek Oysters page, for getting us past the half-way point to our goal! Thanks to your support, Hannah completed two weeks of training for shellfish techs in Zanzibar in early November (https://www.facebook.com/islandcreekoysters/posts/10156618689055779), and I'm ordering the next set of tanks from our supplier in Kenya.

What’s at stake? In Zanzibar, Tanzania, most people live on less than two dollars per day. Shellfish collecting is a task traditionally done by women in Zanzibar and if a womanMore...
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Thank you to all the donors, both at WHOI and via Hannah Pearson's Island Creek Oysters page, for getting us past the half-way point to our goal! Thanks to your support, Hannah completed two weeks of training for shellfish techs in Zanzibar in early November (https://www.facebook.com/islandcreekoysters/posts/10156618689055779), and I'm ordering the next set of tanks from our supplier in Kenya.

What’s at stake?

In Zanzibar, Tanzania, most people live on less than two dollars per day. Shellfish collecting is a task traditionally done by women in Zanzibar and if a woman is able to build a small shellfish farming operation, she can dramatically improve the health and economic prospects for herself and her family.

 

Shellfish aquaculture in the coastal waters of East Africa holds great potential to provide a stable, healthy source of protein and as well as new economic opportunities for entire communities, so long as up-to-date knowledge and equipment are available. To date, however, very little shellfish aquaculture is practiced in Zanzibar because of a lack of shellfish hatcheries, which provide shellfish seed to farmers, and a lack of technical knowledge about how to best farm and manage shellfish stocks.

 

What’s the solution?

I have been working with the government on the island of Zanzibar, Tanzania, and with the State University of Zanzibar (SUZA), to build a training and research hatchery on the SUZA campus. This hatchery will help train local shellfish farmers, provide shellfish seed to an initial set of farms, and improve the state of knowledge about shellfish farming and management among local residents.

 

To date, activities at the hatchery include training about 10 local students as hatchery technicians, teaching them how to grow microalgae as shellfish food, and refining techniques to produce seed from a local species of clam, Anadara antiquata. Ramping up shellfish seed production will require bringing additional tanks to the hatchery and upgrading the power- and water-supply systems.

 

How you can help.

With your gift:

  • We will increase seed production capacity at the hatchery to about 10 million clam seed per year, which should translate into additional income of $100/year for several hundred shellfish farmers in Zanzibar, many of whom are women supporting families.
  • We will supply much-needed equipment to bring the training hatchery up to full capacity.
  • We will send staff from U.S. shellfish growing companies, like those at Island Creek Oysters in Duxbury, MA, to Zanzibar to help train hatchery staff and growers.

Most importantly, your gift will support the training of the next generation of hatchery operators and lay the foundation for expanding shellfish aquaculture along the coast of Tanzania and other parts of East Africa.

 

Some specific ways you can help:

$200: One week's operating expenses for the entire hatchery

$100: One year's supply of bacteria testing materials

$50: Shipping fresh algae cultures to Zanzibar

$10: One day's food budget for hatchery trainers

Mission Statement

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is dedicated to advancing knowledge of the ocean and its connection with the Earth system through a sustained commitment to excellence in science, engineering, and education, and to the application of this knowledge to problems facing society.

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