Inside Mauritius's Largest Fish Farm and the Case for Intra-African Aquaculture Networks

Nadeem Nazurally is an Associate Professor at the University of Mauritius, supervising PhD research at what is likely the largest marine finfish farm in the Western Indian Ocean, producing around 4,000 to 4,500 tonnes of red drum a year. His work spans environmental monitoring around aquaculture sites, coral restoration, IMTA development in open lagoon systems, sea urchin trials, and seaweed research aimed at getting local communities to actually eat what grows wild on their coastline.The conversation covers how his research collaborations with the farm stay independent (he publishes regardless of what the data shows), the structure and funding behind AfriMAQUA, the EU-backed network connecting African aquaculture researchers, his collaboration with Hokkaido University on fisheries and blue economy projects, the politics around shark fears that froze new aquaculture licensing in Mauritius for years, and why he thinks the continent needs a stronger, better-funded intra-African aquaculture network.Made possible by LIMAQUA.