Egyptian Fish Farms

Inter Press Service reports on the growth of fish farming in Egypt:

"Egypt has built the largest aquaculture industry in Africa, accounting for four out of every five fish farmed on the continent. Egyptian fish farms produced over 650,000 tons of finfish last year, or about 60 percent of the country's total freshwater and marine fish production, providing a cheap source of protein for the country's 80 million people...

"Commercial fish farming in Egypt began in the 1960s with mullet-rearing pens in coastal lakes and lagoons. The industry has witnessed explosive growth over the past decade. Total aquaculture production has grown by 500 percent since 1998 due to a shift to intensive rearing methods and faster growing species such as tilapia...

"Integrated aquaculture currently accounts for a small fraction of Egypt's total fish farm production, but its share is expected to grow quickly. Fathy sees enormous potential for the technique to increase the food productivity of vast tracts of reclaimed desert land."

Egypt has been pushing fishing for awhile, and it is the largest fish producer in the Middle East as well as Africa. The biggest fish stock is actually found, not near the Mediterranean, but in Lake Nasser.