Raising marine worms to cope with the decline of species affected by sea pollution and climate change is the risky bet of the start-up Tunisia Baits, which is developing a marine worm farm in the north of the country in Bizerte, after eight years of research in aquaculture.
At first glance, there is no guessing what purpose the water basins of different sizes arranged in several rooms are for. On a farm on the edge of the Bizerte lagoon, Ahmed Malek and the co-founders of the start-up Tunisia Baits are experimenting with the breeding of sea worms. “ Since the dawn of time, fishermen have been fishing with sea worms, it is one of the most popular foods for fish and all fishermen seek to catch fish with worms. “, explains Ahmed Malek.
A method that requires a lot of meticulousness and know-how, because you have to recreate the reproduction cycle of these worms and properly control the eggs and their hatching. Tunisia Baits is one of six farms in the world to have ventured into breeding these species.
Seven years of research
« There are only difficulties, because it was necessary to identify the males and the females, it was necessary to understand the cycle of reproduction, it was necessary to determine the best conditions of breeding. How to stimulate reproduction, how to stimulate the growth of larvae, what do they eat? We had no data, so it took us about seven years of research to identify all these parameters. “, continues Ahmed Malek.
The idea of the start-up was born after its founders, initially specialized in the export of worms, had noticed the difficulty of harvesting marine worms in their natural habitat, threatened by pollution and overfishing… “ Over the years, it was noticed that the number of fishermen kept increasing and the quantity of worms began to decrease, and the price of worms increased in ten years by three times. »
Fragile growth, but a promising sector
But for this start-up, still in its start-up phase, the difficulties were also to find investors who were confident in this long-term process, according to Emel Tounsi, director of the Réseau entrepreneur association in Tunisia, which granted a loan of 10 000 euros for the beginnings: “ Some projects do not have all their chances in the traditional financing circuit when (companies) go to local banks, for example. There are certain sectors that are favoured, others a little less. So we have chosen to invest in projects that we believe have great potential and which have a certain added value. It’s even better if there’s environment in it. »
Tunisia Baits is also financially supported by the French Development Agency. The start-up will commercialize its marine worms in the spring of 2023 and move to a larger farm to increase production.