DIFS possesses a good basic infrastructure and laboratory facilities, a world class specialist library and library database, good experimental aquaculture facilities and access to ships time and number of other laboratories and field stations. DIFS operates a field aquaculture laboratory at Port Alfred and has students based at other regional research facilities.

Library

The Ichthyology library is unquestionably the premier library on fish, fisheries and aquaculture in the southern hemisphere. It is housed in the South African Institute of Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB), and is jointly managed by the DIFS and SAIAB.

The fish collection, housed in the SAIAB, represents the largest collection of southern African fish anywhere in the world. It is the largest fish collection in Africa and the second largest in the southern hemisphere.

Experimental facilities

The department has a fully operational freshwater recirculating fish farm and a marine fish hatchery on its premises. The department has six temperature-controlled labs, five of which are used for marine and freshwater fish culture, and one for the production of rotifers and Artemia.

The facility consists of a series of recirculating systems. The Port Alfred lab is used for our work on the south east coast line fisheries and for marine fish culture. These are occupied and run by students on a full time basis.

Equipment

The Department of Ichthyology and Fisheries Science has two 4X4 and two 4X2 vehicles, 60 HP fibreglass and 80 HP inflatable boats, and various laboratory equipment (e.g. microKjeldahl, muffle furnace, drying ovens). More sophisticated equipment such as flame spectrophotometers, HPLC, electron microscopes (SEM and TEM) is shared by several departments within the Faculty of Science and Pharmacy.