Cachama, an exercise of food sovereignty, versus Tilapia, a threat to biodiversity

Article by Walterio Lanz (from La Inventadera)

Translated by William Camacaro, National Co-Coordinator

In the Bolivarian Revolution, since the time of Chávez, there has been an immense concern to guarantee food security and sovereignty and to ensure the right of the people to access quality food. President Chávez, and now President Nicolás Maduro, have given impetus to fish farming in the country, with the aim of ensuring excellent quality protein for the Venezuelan people’s diet.

Recently, in response to these concerns, President Maduro suggested the incorporation of Tilapia as a food item and promoting its breeding in the national territory (VTV, 2022). This article aims to present a brief exposition of why Tilapia should not be an option to consider and the importance of promoting the sovereign production of the Cachama native species.

Tilapias (Oreochromis spp.) belong to the Cichlidae family and are of African origin. These fish have been introduced in many tropical, subtropical and temperate regions of the world, with the aim of guaranteeing a source of protein, at low cost and with great nutritional quality. Their high capacity to adapt to diverse environmental conditions (such as salinity, temperature, and diverse food sources) in addition to a high reproductive efficiency (nest care, parental care of eggs and fry, semi-permanent and early reproduction, etc.), make this species successful competitors with the capacity to displace native species (Nirchio and Pérez, 2002).

Due to the above, they are considered one of the most dangerous invasive species in the world and have been successfully established in most of the regions where they have been introduced. It has been recognized among the 100 most harmful species by the Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG 2018). Despite this, its cultivation has spread throughout the world (Jacome, 2019).

Alert: watersheds and the introduction of Tilapia

The Orinoquia and the Amazon are two immense basins that cover one million square km and 7.5 million square km respectively. This gives us an idea of ​​the importance not only for our countries, but also for humanity, of the conservation of biological diversity in a macro-basin that extends more than 8 million square km and in which any intervention that is made, whether on the Orinoco side or on the Amazon side, would have an immense impact.

In the political-legal framework, our Plan de La Patria in its fifth historical objective gives high relevance to the conservation of biological diversity and the safeguarding and protection of native species for future generations; therefore, any type of intervention that is carried out in these territories should be done with care and responsibility. Hence the importance of seriously considering the dangers associated with the introduction of exotic species, especially if they have been recognized as invasive, because not all exotic species are considered as such.

The exotic and invasive nature of Tilapia is widely demonstrated, as evidenced by dozens of academic working papers, which have reported and denounced this situation in at least 10 states in the United States and even in Africa itself.

Lake George, located in Uganda, in East-Central Africa, was invaded by tilapia and changed the population structure of the fisheries in that lake, located in the same area as Lake Victoria, which is part of the origin of the Nile River. The population changes of the ichthyofauna in Lake George and in at least six well-documented cases in America, such as the very emblematic case of the reservoir, lagoon or marsh of Guájaro near Barranquilla, have already been determined with scientific rigor.

In this body of water located in the Magdalena River basin, Tilapia was introduced and is bred, and research has determined that the ichthyofauna changed over time, local species were displaced and now the fisheries reflect a greater proportion of Tilapia than of native species. This case is emblematic and it raises serious concern because the Magdalena River is more than 1,000 km long and has approximately 250,000 square km of basin. There is a high probability that Tilapia has come down the Magdalena River and spread in the marshes and estuaries in the area immediately before the mouth of the river in the Caribbean Sea.

Tilapias migrated uncontrollably there and it has been determined as a very important issue that this species has also reproduced in that area, which is a brackish marsh, and has passed to the sea, where it has the capacity to survive, demonstrating its high capacity of adaptation. Hence the danger of its propagation.

Tilapia virus

Another problem associated with this exotic species is the natural viruses present in Tilapia (e.g. Tilapia lake virus, TILV), which can affect native species in our American territories. It is necessary to reflect: what would happen if a virus of this type also passes into the environment and affects our native fish populations? Is there a strategy to address a problem of such magnitude?

From the point of view of our Amazonian territory, where we share borders with Colombia and Brazil, we must consider that in these countries liberal capitalist approaches to fishery management have led to very little discussion and action to control the spread of tilapia. On the contrary, there is legislation that favors its breeding, so regardless of what we can do, the Amazon basin has long been in danger because of the policies undertaken by these bordering countries towards invasive species.

Cachama, food sovereignty and its nutritional importance

The Cachama (Colossoma macropomun), both black and white, is omnivorous — it feeds on everything even though it is primarily oriented towards plant species, seeds and fruits. The white Cachama (Piaractus brachypomus) is more commonly known as Morocoto. They are natural species of the Orinoco and Amazon basins. It is important to remember that these two basins are connected by a branch of the Orinoco that branches off at some point through the Casiquiare canal and connects the Orinoco with the Negro River, also known as Guainía.

Regarding the Cachama and its breeding in Venezuela, it is very important to remember that there are antecedents of the work carried out by Dr. Woynarovich, a Hungarian researcher who developed experience breeding Cachama; though little is known of this, and he was perhaps intentionally silenced. His work culminated in the elaboration of a breeding manual and the installation of the Guanapito experimental station in the northeast of the Guárico State. In this laboratory, which took advantage of the advantages of the Guanapito reservoir, the research carried out determined the viability and environmental convenience of breeding Cachama.

Since the Cachama is native to our territories, if it escapes into the environment it does not cause any problem because it is native; that is, there are no restrictions or associated ecological risks. Its breeding also allows for polyculture; there are no restrictions for its production to be accompanied at the same time by the production of at least two additional species that are also native: the Coporo (Prochilodus mariae) and the Curito (Hoplosternum littorale). These species can adapt to three different niches in the environments in which they have been raised. The Cachama dominates the upper levels of the body of water, the Coporo dominates the intermediate levels in the pond and the Curitos dominate the lower zone, where the excrement of both the Cachamas and the Coporos are concentrated. This positively affects nutrition by diversifying it and reduces the risks associated with monoculture. The basic advantage of having three varieties instead of one lies in the availability of three sources of protein in the same environment.

It is necessary to revalorize community experiences and promote them at a national level as a strategy to allow access to this important source of protein among other nutrients for the Venezuelan people. From a nutritional point of view, incorporating freshwater fish such as Cachama into the Venezuelan diet provides a highly digestible food, in addition to being a source of proteins and essential amino acids. It is low in saturated fats, provides essential fatty acids (linoleic acid and α-linolenic acid), omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid. It also provides minerals (iodine, selenium, zinc, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, potassium), vitamins (vitamin A, D, E, B complex), and carotenoids, among other bioactive compounds such as peptides (Freyre et al. 2005, Balami et al. 2019, Ashraf et al. 2020).

It is important to highlight that scientific evidence has demonstrated the important contribution of fish consumption in reducing the risk of developing coronary heart disease and thrombotic events due to its abundance of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and other bioactive compounds (peptides). These bioactive compounds are also known to reduce the risk of cancer and high blood pressure, in addition to their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties (Ashraf et al. 2020).