About us
Our Story
Tanganyika Blue was founded by a team of social business enthusiasts that have fallen in love with Lake Tanganyika and its surrounding communities and astonishing nature. Originally, we had big plans to create a cold chain business for the local fishermen, but things changed when we realized that wild fish catches were continuously declining.
That’s when we decided to dive into sustainable fish farming. Since 2016, we have partnered with the Tanzanian Fisheries Research Institute (TAFIRI) to evaluate the feasibility of Native Species Aquaculture in the lake. In production trials we thereby assessed growth rates, feed conversion ratios and fecundity of the endemic Tanganyika tilapia (Oreochromis tanganicae). It all looked very promising and we therefore started looking for a suitable location along the lake to build up a commercial farm. After several years, we finally found a perfect spot next to a small village located a few kilometres South of Kigoma and we secured 25 hectares of land right by the lakeshore.
Today, Tanganyika Blue is the first commercial cage aquaculture farm at Lake Tanganyika in Tanzania. We are driven by our passion for preserving the lake’s biodiversity and supporting the local communities.
Our Farm
Pilot production site
To evaluate the feasibility of the Native Species Aquaculture approach in Lake Tanganyika, we have established a pilot production site in Kigoma. The production capacity of the facility accounts to 30 tons per year and consists of 9 square cages made from galvanized steel, plastic drums and nylon netting.
The pilot facility has been used to assess the feasibility of the Tanganyika tilapia (Oreochromis tanganicae) for commercial cage aquaculture production. Next to the site we have a small shop where we sell our freshly harvested Tanganyika tilapia to traders and end-customers.
Commercial facility
The commercial facility will be established on 25ha of land next to Kimbwela village near Kigoma. The initial farm setup will include a pond-based hatchery with a total of 6 broodstock and nursery ponds including a fry conditioning facility to acclimatize the fingerlings to the lake water before transfer. From there, the young fish then get stocked into the 10 nursery cages in the lake 400 metres from the shore where they grow to finger size. Afterwards they are transfered to the 18 large grow out cages 1 kilometer offshore. There our fish are fed plant-based feed over several months to grow them to table size while upholding fish welfare principles during the entire production process. The cage frames are made of HDPE and held in place with thorough mooring structures to ensure the safety of our fish even during the roughest weather events.
At harvest, the fish are laid straight on ice and killed in a humane way to then be packed into ice-filled boxes in our onshore processing area. To ensure highest quality and food safety, we will run our own ice machines to produce enough ice that the fish reach our customers in the freshest way possible.
From our farm, the fish then get distributed through our depot & main sales point in Kigoma or are sold farmgate to third-party distributors and traders across Tanzania. The initial production capacity of the facility will reach several hundred tons with the goal to expand to several thousand tons over the coming years.
Our Impact
Our impact is our mission. The potential impact of Tanganyika Blue is why our venture came to life.
Community
We strive to make a positive impact on the communities around us and in the whole region. At full scale, Tanganyika Blue will directly employ over 150 people form the local community and further benefit several hundred people that are active in the downstream fish value chain such as traders and distributors. Moreover, at full scale, Tanganyika Blue aims to distribute sustainably produced fish to close to half a million people in the region.
Women empowerment
We are deeply committed to empowering women and aspire to be a trailblazer in the region. Our vision extends beyond simply employing at least 50% women in our workforce: We want to break barriers, challenge stereotypes and pave the way for a more gender-equitable aquaculture sector and society overall.
Environment
Environmental conservation is at the heart of Tanganyika Blue’s Native Species Aquaculture approach (read more here), as we strive towards a biodiversity-enhancing fish farming sector in Lake Tanganyika.
Moreover, our cage culture site was carefully selected to facilitate nutrient effluents’ utilization for local primary production, creating a thriving environment that enhances fish communities around our facility and ensures the best water quality for our farmed fish.
We have further developed a thorough energy- and resource efficiency concept for the establishment and operation of our farm and will incorporate sustainable construction methods such as rammed earth and integrate photovoltaics to increase our energy autarky and minimize the use of fossil fuels.
The Kigoma Aquahub
The Kigoma Aquahub will be an aquaculture training and research center integrated into the commercial Tanganyika Blue facility. The goal is to provide hands-on training on aquaculture best management practices to relevant stakeholders. Moreover, we will provide a platform and accomodate researchers from all around the world who want to conduct studies on aquaculture and Lake Tanganyika.
The Kigoma Aquahub will also be our starting point to creating a smallholder outgrower program, distributing high-quality Tanganyika tilapia fingerlings and fish feed to smallholder fish farmers together with extension and coaching services.