This is an interesting concept, but it wouldn’t work in Australia because we have introduced killer rabbit diseases (myxomatosis
and calicivirus) as a measure to control feral rabbits. This has also been the one of the factors in the demise of the rabbit industry in Australia. It’s a lesson we need to remember whenever a biological control agent is ever to be considered for any purpose. It is whether we plan to ever use the species for any other purposes (pets, meat, leather/fur).
A good case in point is the common carp. The exotic killer koi herpesvirus could be released into the wild in Australia in as little as 5 years if some scientists and fisherfolk lobbyists could have their own way. Could Australia find a use for this fish? Live export to improve genetic stocks in their native Europe? Sustainable food fish aquaculture for local consumption or export? Fertiliser? Coarse fishing?
Australia could remain the only place in the world with a carp population that is free from so many of the killer diseases. In terms of food security, should we be protecting the humble carp rather than release the killer virus amongst them?
| Journal of Applied Aquaculture | |||||||||||||||||
| Volume 24, Number 2 (April 2012) | |||||||||||||||||
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Rearing Rabbits Over Earthen Fish Ponds in Rwanda: Effects on Water and Sediment Quality, Growth, and Production of Nile Tilapia Oreochromis niloticus | ||||||||||||||||
| Authors: | Simon Rukera Tabaro 1, Onisimo Mutanga 1, Denis Rugege 1, Jean-Claude Micha 2 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Source: | Journal of Applied Aquaculture, Volume 24, Number 2 (April 2012) | ||||||||||||||||
| Page Numbers: | 170 – 181 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Abstract: | Nine earthen ponds of 400 m2each, were stocked with 800 mixed sex Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticusfingerlings (14 g mean weight stocked at 2 fish/m-2) and fertilized with rabbit droppings from rabbits reared over fish ponds and stocked at three different densities: T1 = one, T2 = two, and T4 = four rabbits per 100 m2of pond. After 152 days, results from this integrated rabbit/fish system showed: 1) increasing nutrient content of all ponds in the three treatments except for nitrates, which decreased with time and, 2) good water quality in terms of pH, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity. Fish mean weight at harvest and fish yield were higher in ponds fertilized by the highest rabbit stocking rate: 42.32 g and 6.35 ± 1.0 kg/are, respectively (1 are = 100 m2). | ||||||||||||||||
| Citation: | Simon Rukera Tabaro, Onisimo Mutanga, Denis Rugege, Jean-Claude Micha . Rearing Rabbits Over Earthen Fish Ponds in Rwanda: Effects on Water and Sediment Quality, Growth, and Production of Nile Tilapia Oreochromis niloticus. Journal of Applied Aquaculture, Volume 24, Number 2 (April 2012), pp. 170-181, ; | ||||||||||||||||
| URL: | http://ejournals.ebsco.com/direct.asp?ArticleID=48CF8D9813011C307401 | ||||||||||||||||
