Greening of desert coastal areas through integrated farming: Seawater Farms Eritrea Presented by: Joshua Ramsey Seawater Farms Eritrea and University of Arizona

Eritrea  Location – Eritrea is a small country located on the coast of the Red Sea  Population – approximately 3.5 million  High level of poverty  Low in natural resources and cropland

Seawater Farms Eritrea  Integrated Seawater aquaculture/agriculture farm  Main aquaculture products: Shrimp, Tilapia, and possibly Artemia, Gracilaria, and Grouper  Main agriculture products: Salicornia and Mangroves  Other products: Honey and Salt  Beautification -- Greening the desert coast  Alleviating poverty  Increasing available cropland  Sequestering CO 2 from the atmosphere  No effluent released directly into the Red Sea

Shrimp production  Vertically integrated –Hatchery, nursery, growout, and soon processing as well  Intensive –circular cement lined ponds –High density – 2-4 Kg/m 3

Tilapia (my job)  Unique population of tilapia  Research is being done on reproduction in high salinity (42-47 ppt)  Polyculture in cages in intensive shrimp ponds  Cage growout in shrimp effluent  Free water source  However, lots of work to be done –More information on all aspects of reproduction –Improving genetics –Defining culture system and market objectives

Salicornia  Halophyte (salt loving or salt tolerating)  Products from plant –Salicornia tips can be eaten as vegetable before seed formation begins –Popular, seasonal delicacy in Northern Europe –Leftover plant can be bailed for fodder –Woody stem can be pressed into particle boards or fire logs  Products from seed –High quality edible oil, health care products, seed meal can be used as fodder

Mangroves  SFE will serve as mangrove nursery to supply NPO Seawater Forest Initiative

Feed Mill  Feed is produced using local ingredients  Protein from local by-catch  Macroalgae collected locally for binder  Brewer’s yeast

Artemia and Salt Production  Research on Artemia cyst production in solar salt works

Integration  By integrating so many various products  Returning nutrients from the sea to the land –Nutrient run-off from agriculture and other uses transport nutrients away from cropland and eventually into the ocean –By using seawater for land based aquaculture and agriculture