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In Cameroon, wild strains of Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) are often used for artificial reproduction in hatchery facilities, but there is insufficient information on their reproductive capacity and progeny performance. The reproductive capacity of two strains of C. gariepinus from the Mezam and Mungo Rivers and the performance of their F1 larvae obtained following hybridization were assessed. Reproduction was carried out with four crosses as follows: Mezam (♂) x Mezam (♀) (T1), Mezam (♂) x Mungo (♀) (T2), Mungo (♂) x Mezam (♀) (T3) and Mungo (♂) x Mungo (♀) (T4). Thereafter, three days old larvae obtained following reproduction were subjected to a 30 day experimental trial with standard feeds. The performance of larvae obtained from T4 was not assessed since larvae obtained were too few for the experiment. Although the broodstock of the different strains did not differ significantly in size, Mezam stock had significantly (p = 0.00) bigger eggs when compared to Mungo stock. Fecundity of 52480 was recorded for Mezam stock compared to 32985 for Mungo stock. Fertilization and hatchability rates differed significantly (p < 0.05) among the crosses, with the highest (82.28 and 81.31%, respectively) in T1, followed by T3 (65.96 and 61.28%, respectively), and the least (38.61 and 2.81%, respectively) in T4. The best larval survival was recorded in T1 (37.17%) and the least in T2 (15.67%), meanwhile T3 recorded best growth after 30 days. In terms of fertilization and hatchability, T1 was more suitable for artificial reproduction, but T3 is more encouraged for aquaculture based on its reproductive capacity and larval performance.

Jatropha curcas Linnaeus, 1753 is a plant with several uses for communities in Cameroon and other African countries. However, present methods of detoxifying J. curcas kernel cake (JKC) to add value to its further utilization are too sophisticated for cottage operations in rural areas. This study sought to evaluate two auto-detoxification methods using the shellfish brine shrimp, Artemia salina (Linnaeus, 1758). Two identical J. curcas auto-detoxification apparatuses (JADA) were developed: one simulating diffuse daylight (DJADA) and the other solar irradiation (SJADA) conditions. JKC was pretreated by either soaking or boiling in water or lye. The pretreated samples were then placed in the JADA and either re-moistened to 66% dry matter (DM) or left un-moistened. Among the 14 pretreated samples, water soaked solar without re-moistening (WS1), lye soaked solar without re-moistening (LS1), and water soaked solar with re-moistening (WS2) had LC50 values above 1000 ppm after four weeks. On the other hand, un-moistened diffuse daylight spread (UDC), boiled in water and exposed to diffused daylight without remoistening (WD3), and un-moistened solar spread (USS) were the least detoxified within the same period of four weeks with LC50 values less than 60 ppm. Irrespective of the pretreatment, extracts from the SJADA had higher LC50 values when compared to that of DJADA. This finding suggests that sunlight is an important factor in auto-detoxification. The top three most efficient detoxified treatments: WS1, LS1 and WS2 are recommended for further development and testing with livestock and fish models. This study confirms that JKC is toxic, but under natural conditions is exposed to auto-detoxifying factors which are both endogenous and environmental. When these conditions are optimally manipulated, the detoxification rate is enhanced. Farmers in rural communities can use this strategy to detoxify JKC, transform it into livestock and fish dietary ingredient and consequently enhance its contribution to climate change mitigation. Key words: Jatropha curcas, auto-detoxification, solar irradiation, Artemia salina.

The African River prawn Macrobrachium vollenhovenii is the largest of the local Palaemonidae prawns along the Cameroonian coast and an important target species for fisheries and aquaculture. A preliminary study on larviculture of this species was carried out at the IRAD-AQUASOL hatchery in Kribi, Cameroon. Berried females M. vollenhovenii were obtained from the Lobe and Lokoundje Rivers in the Southern Region, typical Lower Guinea rainforest streams. The larval rearing system consisted of a single recirculation system of four 65 L cylindrical plastic containers connected to a submerged biological filter container (65 L). Experiments were conducted three times in the same condition, with two batches of larvae reared separately in duplicate per experiment, at a density of 40/L, temperature 26°C, and salinity 16%. Larvae were fed from 1 day after hatching until metamorphosis to postlarvae (PL) with newly hatched Artemia nauplii, three times daily at the rate of 5 nauplii per mL water. The number of newly hat...

There are increasing efforts from diverse national and international stakeholders promoting integrated aquaculture for its merit in meeting triple needs of food production, social relevance and environmental stability. This research studies 120 aquaculture producers in the Southwest and Northwest regions of Cameroon. The hypothesis is that socioeconomic parameters influence farmers’ selection of an enterprise mix amongst fish-rice-poultry that will maximize revenue. A revenue equation is estimated by imposing a Cobb-Douglas functional form. About 35% of farmers practiced integrated systems, and for those that did not practice in situ – integrated systems, about 65% undertook these different enterprises at different times within the same calendar year. The combination of poultry into fish-rice enterprises is practised as a means to increase farm income through better resource utilization. The systems are overall profitable. When integration is undertaken for two systems either as fish cum rice, fish cum poultry or rice cum poultry farmers realize annual net returns of 428,630 FCFA (US$ 857); 785,650 FCFA (US$ 1,571) and 865,990 FCFA (US$ 1,732), respectively. The highest profits of 965,270 FCFA (US$ 1,931) are obtained in the complete fish-rice-poultry system. Econometric estimates of the revenue function reveal positive and direct relationship with farm revenue for socioeconomic parameters such as plot size, labour, credit, education, land tenure, access to extension and enterprise integration. For dissemination and adoption of this technology there is need for training that exploit pond management and marketing of products from the system.

This paper presents an overview of the initiatives that have been formulated by the government of Cameroon to address the problem of industrial pollution. It also prescribes robust recommendations that could be employed to save the Atlantic coast of Cameroon from industrial pollutants. After the participation of Cameroon in the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the government took a significant step to overhaul its institutional framework, legal framework and policy framework vis-a-vis the regulation of industrial pollution. Under the auspices of the United Nation Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), the Gulf of Guinea Large Marine Ecosystem Project aimed at sustaining the health of the Atlantic coast of Cameroon by ensuring treatment of industrial wastes, oil spills, sewage and heavy metals was implemented (1995–1999). Based upon careful analysis, however, the paper argues that these efforts have had little or no discernable impacts and that industrial activities along the Atlantic coast of Cameroon are still a major threat to safety, health and the environment. With a considerable number of hurdles that still persist, sufficient environmental improvement in industrial pollution along the Atlantic coast of Cameroon is far-fetched. Nevertheless, the paper concludes that marked environmental improvement can be obtained if: (i) competent personnel are appointed in ministries that play an active role in mitigating industrial pollution (ii) research partnerships are forged with local universities (iii) industrial machinery and equipment are improved (iv) inter institutional conflicts are addressed (v) a more collaborative forum between stakeholders is established (vi) adequate monitoring is instituted.

The deleterious impact of industrial activities on safety health and environmental quality has motivated industries to adopt environmental management systems (EMSs). This paper examines the implementation of EMSs in industries that interact with the Atlantic coast of Cameroon, which has been plagued with effluents emanating from industrial activities. Through a questionnaire based survey that was conducted from January 2005 to June 2005 with all the industries along the Atlantic coast of Cameroon, this paper seeks to address the motivating factors, implementation hurdles and benefits accrued by these industries as a result of implementing EMSs. Although enormous benefits have been accrued as a result of EMS implementation, a plethora of hurdles still persist in the realm of EMS implementation in these industries. Against this background, this paper concludes by prescribing a number of recommendations that could be used to promote the implementation of EMSs in industries that interact with the Atlantic coast of Cameroon. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Indiscriminate disposal of untreated wastes which are often heavily laden with sewage microorganisms some of which are pathogenic to humans into aquatic environments near cities could serve as potential dangers to human health.A prospective study was undertaken to investigate the scope of potential bacterial pathogens and to assess the extent of pollution of the Douala lagoon.A total of eighty water samples were collected fortnightly from the lagoon at five stations from March to October 2005 and analysed for heterotrophic bacterial densities, coliform counts, faecal coliform and faecal streptococcal counts. Bacteria were isolated and identified using standard microbiology and biochemical techniques.High heterotrophic bacterial counts (33 x 10(5) - 161 x 10(5) CFU/ mL), total coliform counts (1.8 x 10(2) - 2.4 x 10(2) CFU/100 mL), faecal coliform counts (2.2 x 10(2) - 2.4 x 10(2) CFU/ 100 mL) and faecal streptococcal counts (2.1 x 102 - 2.3 x 10(2) CFU/100mL were observed in all sampling stations. Eleven species of bacteria: Bacteroides fragilis, Proteus vulgaris, Klebsiella pneumoniae, E. coli, Enterococcus faecalis, Enterobacter aerogenes, Citrobacter freundii, Aeromonas hydrophila, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus mycoides and Serratia marcesens, were frequently isolated.The presence of potential bacterial agents such as Bacteroides fragilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Aeromonas hydrophila, Klebsiella pneumoniae and E. coli in the lagoon may pose a serious threat to the health and well being of users of the Lagoon and calls for urgent intervention.