Established in 1997, Tropo is Africa’s second largest tilapia farm.
(GHANA, 12/9/2014)
Volta Catch tilapia is produced by Tropo Farms in Ghana. The company selects its breeders from nature, from the vast Volta Lake. Volta Catch fish roots are 100% Ghanaian.
Volta Catch takes pride in its quality and make every effort to ensure that fish is as fresh and pure as possible.
Tropo Farms controls every stage of production, from eggs through nursery, transfer and final growing in the pure clean river and lake waters of the Volta. No chemicals, antibiotics or growth promoters are used in the production of Volta Catch tilapia.
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| Fish are fed with low phosphorus extruded feed which minimize leaching of nutrients to the environment. |
High quality feeds free of additives are carefully fed to Tropo Farms' fish to provide most of their nutritional requirements whiles nature provides the rest. Fish are fed with low phosphorus extruded feed which minimize leaching of nutrients to the environment. Most of drift and waste feed is consumed by wild fish and birds – very little if any sinks to the bottom as waste. Optimum feeding ensures faecal production is not excessive. The company's energy use is minimal as they do not use aeration for production.
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| No chemicals, antibiotics or growth promoters are used in the production of Volta Catch tilapia. |
Freshness is guaranteed by a modern cold chain process. Live fish are immediately gutted and rapidly cooled in an ice solution. They are then packed in flaked ice and transported in refrigerated trucks. Fish are then kept in chilled conditions during sales. Fish are never frozen but kept at +1 to +4’C. The harvest-to-table time is kept very short as the company harvests on demand.
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| Tropo Farms takes care to leave as little environmental footprint as possible at its production site. |
Established in 1997 Tropo is Africa’s second largest tilapia farm. Annual tilapia production and sales is over 2000 metric tons.
Tropo has a dedicated 32 acre hatchery at Asutsuare on the Volta River near Akuse where they produce over 20 million production-ready fingerlings per year.
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| Volta Catch takes pride in its quality and make every effort to ensure that fish is as fresh and pure as possible. |
Production is at Mpakadan, 6 km upstream of the Akosombo dam on a deepwater site in the Agina Gorge. This site is pristine. There are no cities in the Volta Basin, no industries upstream and water quality is perfect. Tilapia is native to the Volta Basin – thus the company is located in true “tilapia territory”. Therefore, Tropo Farms takes care to leave as little environmental footprint as possible at its production site.
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| The company's energy use is minimal and they do not use aeration for production. |
The 2 kilometre shoreline is kept as natural as possible. Tropo Farms has planted 4000 hardwood trees to rehabilitate the land when it was acquired. Against much local resistance the company boldly put an end to bush fires, hunting and charcoal making. Fire belts are maintained and the forest is managed; many rare and beautiful bird species have repopulated the area. Even deer and monkeys have made a return.
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| Tilapia is native to the Volta Basin. |
By restricting fishing within the 100 hectare concession Tropo Farms has inadvertently created a fish sanctuary.
Preproduction surveys revealed a barren shoreline of only 3 fish species seen in two kilometres of shoreline – today there are over 17 native species which came back to the area and fish numbers are in the thousands. As fish now breed in this area, the fishermen enjoy abundant catches near the farm's perimeter.
Socially the farm has made a start by helping the Mpakadan school. It has provided a borehole for potable water in Mpakadan. It also graded the 7 kilometre feeder road from the highway to Mpakadan town and, its going to provide an annual scholarship to Mpakadan’s brightest student to achieve university level education. Tropo Farms provides over 450 jobs.
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| Tropo Farms controls every stage of production. |