International Journal of Fisheries and Aquaculture Volume 9 Number 5 May 2017 ISSN 2006-9839 ABOUT IJFA The International Journal of Fisheries and Aquaculture (IJFA) (ISSN: 2006-9839) is an open access journal that provides rapid publication (monthly) of articles in all areas of the subject such as algaculture, Mariculture, fishery in terms of ecosystem health, Fisheries acoustics etc. The Journal welcomes the submission of manuscripts that meet the general criteria of significance and scientific excellence. Papers will be published shortly after acceptance. All articles published in the IJFA are peer-reviewed. Contact Us Editorial Office: [email protected] Help Desk: [email protected] Website: http://www.academicjournals.org/journal/IJFA Submit manuscript online http://ms.academicjournals.me/ Editors Dr. V.S. Chandrasekaran Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Chennai, India. Prof. Nihar Rajan Chattopadhyay Department of Aquaculture Faculty of Fishery Sciences West Bengal University of Animal & Fishery Sciences West Bengal, India. Dr. Lourdes Jimenez-Badillo Ecology and Fisheries Centre Universidad Veracruzana Veracruz, México. Dr. Kostas Kapiris Institute of Marine Biological Resources of H.C.M.R. Athens, Greece. Dr. Masoud Hedayatifard Department of Fisheries Sciences and Aquaculture College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Advanced Education Center Islamic Azad University Ghaemshahr, Iran. Dr. Zhang Xiaoshuan China Agricultural University Beijing, China. Dr Joseph Selvin Marine Bioprospecting Lab Dept of Microbiology Bharathidasan University Tiruchirappalli, India. Dr. Sebastián Villasante Editorial Board Fisheries Economics and Natural Resources Research Unit University of Santiago de Compostela Dr. Dada Adekunle Ayokanmi A Coruña, Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture Spain. Federal University of Technology Akure, Dr. Mohamed Hamed Yassien Nigeria. National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries Suez, Dr. Ramasamy Harikrishnan Egypt. Faculty of Marine Science College of Ocean Sciences Dr. Riaz Ahmad Jeju National University Department of Zoology Jeju City, Aligarh Muslim University South Korea. Aligarh, India. Dr. Kawser Ahmed Lab. of Ecology, Environment and Climate Change Dr. SM Nurul Amin Department of Fisheries Lab. Marine Science & Aquaculture University of Dhaka Institute of Bioscience Dhaka, Universiti Putra Malaysia Bangladesh. Selangor, Malaysia. Dr. Maxwell Barson Biological Sciences Department Dr. Melcher Andreas University of Zimbabwe University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences Harare, Vienna, Zimbabwe. Austria. Dr. Christopher Marlowe Arandela Caipang Dr. Ayotunde Ezekiel Olatunji Faculty of Biosciences and Aquaculture Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Science Bodø University College Cross River University of Technology Bodø, Calabar, Norway. Nigeria. Dr. William S. Davidson Dr. Ramachandra Bhatta Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Animal and Fisheries Sciences University Simon Fraser University College of Fisheries Burnaby, Kankanady, Canada. India. Dr. Babak Ghaednia Dr. Subha Ganguly Iran Shrimp Research Center (ISRC) Department of Fish Processing Technology Bushehr, Faculty of Fishery Sciences Iran. West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences Chakgaria, Prof. Ratha Braja Kishore India. Department of Zoology Biochemical Adaptation Laboratory Dr. Yusuf Bozkurt Banaras Hindu University Iskenderun Technical University Varanasi, Faculty of Marine Sciences and Technology India. Iskenderun Hatay, Turkey. Prof B. Sharma Department of Biochemistry Prof. Rina Chakrabarti Centre for Biotechnology Aqua Research Lab University of Allahabad Department of Zoology Allahabad, University of Delhi India. Delhi, India. Prof. Nihar Rajan Chattopadhyay Dr. Daniela Giannetto Faculty of Fishery Sciences Department of Biology University of Animal and Fishery Sciences Faculty of Sciences Chakgaria, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University India. Turkey. Dr. Sullip Kumar Majhi Dr. Terngu Akaahan Division of Fisheries Biological Sciences Department Indian Council of Agricultural Research Complex for Neh Federal University of Agriculture Makurdi Region Nigeria. Meghalaya, India. Dr. Hooman Rahmati-Holasoo Department of Aquatic Animal Health Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Tehran Tehran, Iran. Dr. Liberty Napilan-Espectato Institute of Fisheries Policy and Development Studies College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences Iloilo, Philippines. Dr. Zeinab Abdel-Baki El-Greisy National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries (NIOF), KayetBey, Egypt. Dr. Thanitha Thapanand-Chaidee Department of Fishery Biology Faculty of Fisheries Kasetsart University Chatujak, Thailand. Dr. Gabriel Ugwemorubong Ujagwung Dept. of Fisheries and Aquatic Environment Faculty of Agriculture Rivers State University of Science and Technology Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Dr. Margherita Gloria School of Agriculture Food Science and Veterinary Medicine University College Dublin Belfield, Ireland. Dr. Derya Guroy Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University Faculty of Fisheries Aquaculture Department Canakkale, Turkey. International Journal of Fisheries and Aquaculture Table of Contents: Volume 9 Number 5 May 2017 ARTICLES A review of the farming of common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) in Malawi: Policy research directions for aquaculture development in Malawi 42 E. R. Chirwa, D. Kassam, W. L. Jere and A. Mtethiwa Morphological and genetic variability among Mpasa (Opsaridium microlepis Günther, 1864) populations from the inflow rivers of Lake Malawi 52 Daud Kassam, Wisdom Changadeya, Hamad Stima, Wilson Jere and Emmanuel Kaunda Vol. 9(5), pp. 42-51, May 2017 DOI: 10.5897/IJFA2017.0631 Article Number: C8E668564577 International Journal of Fisheries and ISSN 2006-9839 Copyright ©2017 Aquaculture Author(s) retain the copyright of this article http://www.academicjournals.org/IJFA Review A review of the farming of common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) in Malawi: Policy research directions for aquaculture development in Malawi E. R. Chirwa1, 2*, D. Kassam2, W. L. Jere2 and A. Mtethiwa2 1Mzuzu University, P/Bag 201, Luwinga, Mzuzu 2, Malawi. 2Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR), P. O. Box 219, Lilongwe, Malawi. Received 10 April, 2017; Accepted 15 May, 2017 The lack of better performing native fish species for aquaculture led the government of Malawi to import the exotic common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) from Israel in 1976. Growth trials at Domasi and Kasinthula Experimental Stations had shown that common carp grew faster and to a larger size than the indigenous fish species. The government decided to distribute the fish to farmers for grow-out. Barely five years into common carp distribution to farmers, the government reversed its policy and banned the use of the species in aquaculture. The government not only became unpopular but also lost the confidence of the farmers who had begun to see positive impacts of common carp to their livelihoods. The farmers are as unconvinced today as they were before with the reasons behind the banning of common carp. This paper explores the background to common carp farming in Malawi, why the fish was later banned, and the impacts of the fish’s ban on the status of Malawi’s aquaculture. The paper further highlights the farmers’ call for a return of common carp to Malawi’s aquaculture and the research needed to be undertaken to inform government’s policy for the development of a sustainable aquaculture industry in Malawi. Key words: Aquaculture, common carp, fish introduction, exotic fish, Malawi. INTRODUCTION Fish is the most affordable source of animal protein in further expansion (Weyl et al., 2010). Overfishing and Malawi, contributing over 70% of animal protein to the weak enforcement of fisheries regulations have been diet of Malawians (Mahony et al., 2014; Chidammodzi et blamed for dwindling catch rates from lakes and rivers. al., 2015; Sanudi et al., 2015). Most of the fish consumed With the increasing human population (growing at 3% by Malawians come from capture fisheries. Aquaculture p.a.), the scarcity of fish in Malawi has had many contributes about 2% to the total fish supply in Malawi. ramifications. Over the past decades, fish production from capture Foremost is the increase in demand and prices of fish fisheries has plateaued, with little or no prospect for (GoM, 2011). As 65% of the people in Malawi are poor, *Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]. Author(s) agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License Chirwa et al. 43 living on less than 1 US $ per day, many people may not Further information was obtained through attendance of afford to buy fish. This is notwithstanding that compared meetings organized by ICLARM in 19891990 and in later with other animal products, fish still remains relatively years by the Department of Fisheries2. cheap. Consequently, many Malawians may lack sufficient animal protein in their diets, leading to stunting and other protein-deficiency problems (IFFRI, 2012). RESULTS Further, fish availability has declined, resulting in History of common carp farming in Malawi decreasing per capita fish consumption from 14.7 kg/person/year in 1970 to 4.9 kg/person/year in 2011 The farming of fish in Malawi started in 1906 with the (Russell et al., 2008; Nagoli et al., 2009; Sanudi et al., introduction of rainbow trout (Onchorhynchus mykiss 2015), and is projected to reach