Browsing by Author "Makhamisi, Hlengani John"
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- ItemThe use of a scoring card system to assess the suitability of underground and surface water for the farming of warm water fish species in five districts in Limpopo Province(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-04) Makhamisi, Hlengani John; Salie, Khalid; Theron, J.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Agrisciences. Dept. of Animal Sciences.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The development of aquaculture to meet the local and global market demand for fish as an affordable protein source, has created the need for the screening of alternative water sources (i.e. underground and surface water) for its physicochemical properties to assess whether it is suitable for fish production. With wild stocks being characterized by over-utilisation, aquaculture presents a solution to meet the protein needs of rural communities in many countries and to overcome the problems experienced in wild capture fisheries such as over-exploitation and shortages in supply. This study aimed to assess the quality of underground and surface water for aquaculture production in five districts in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, i.e. the Vhembe, Mopani, Capricorn, Sekhukhune and Waterberg. A scorecard, based on guidelines on suitable water quality standards as published by different authors, was developed and used to collect data from the study areas. Ten physicochemical parameters, including dissolved oxygen (DO) (mg/L), temperature (°C), pH, turbidity (NTU), total dissolved solids (TDS) (mg/L), phosphorus as phosphate (PO4, mg/L), and salinity (ppm) were analysed in order to determine the suitability of the water for aquaculture development. The mean and standard deviation of results were calculated for the physicochemical parameters, whereby averages were determined for sampling sites from a single type of water body, i.e. for both underground and surface water bodies used in each district. Water samples were collected at scheduled times (i.e. 10h00, 12h00 and 15h00) from randomly selected earthen ponds, stagnant concrete ponds and water stored in Jojo tanks, respectively. Samples were then analysed according to standard methods. Results obtained showed that with the exception of dissolved oxygen and phosphorus in Mopani, Sekhukhune and Capricorn districts, all other parameters considered were within the recommended suitable ranges for fish farming of the candidate species. Where certain low and high scores are observed for parameters, water treatment is recommended to improve the water quality, as this may otherwise have potential negative effects on the sustainability of productivity of aquaculture in the long term. Water treatment can optimise the application of underground and surface water for fish farming, and with continuous monitoring of all parameters, successful aquaculture development can be maintained. The scorecard system provided a user-friendly, basic tool to rapidly assess the suitability of warm water resources for fish farming of candidate species, such as Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus), African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) and Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) in the Limpopo Province of South Africa.