Fish farming involves raising fish in varied environments including ponds, hapas, cages and tanks for varied reasons not limited to commercial. Fish farming is relatively broader in terms of fish species raised, for the interest of this manual however, fish farming has been narrowed to only popular fish species raised in Malawi.

Fish breeds

Commonly, four fish species dominate fish farming in Malawi. These include three tilapias Oreochromis shiranus, Oreochromis karongae, Tilapia rendali which account for over 90% of fish production in Malawi. Oreochromis shiranus and Tilapia rendae however are the most popular ones. One catfish species Clarias gariepinus is the fourth fish species cultured in Malawi though accounts the least.

Fish Production

Although most of the fish species cultured in Malawi can be raised in a variety of environment, ponds are the common facility small scale farmers in Malawi use. These ponds are of different sizes, depths and shapes. Rectangular ones are however preferable because they aid in aerating the pond particularly when longest side aligns with wind direction.