Fish farming/aquaculture sector involves the breeding, rearing, and harvesting of fish, and is still largely under-represented in Nigeria. According to the World Bank, Nigeria produces only about 40% of its total annual fish demand, out of about 3.4 million metric tons; while the remaining 60% demand is met through fish importation. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) for Q1 2021, reported that the sector contributed 3.24% to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In addition, household fish consumption is measured at 13.3kg/capita per year, which is quite low when compared to the world’s average of 20.3kg. There is, therefore, a huge market with great opportunities for intending fish farmers in the country.
Worldwide, the most important fish species farmed are the common carp (Cyprinus carpio), African sharp-tooth catfish (Clarias gariepinus), Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and the Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). About 80% of fish farmers in Nigeria engage in catfish farming because it is easy to farm in warmer climates, can be raised both in the ponds and tanks, it has health benefits and high market demand by ensuring quick returns. Tilapia are easy to raise, taste great, tolerate a wide variety of water conditions including low oxygen levels and high concentrations of ammonia, and are resistant to diseases and parasites. Poly-culture of catfish with other common fish species is also very popular in Nigeria. Interest in ornamental fish farming has also increased in the past decade and some of the most popular ornamental fish species remain Goldfish (Carassius auratus), White Cloud Mountain minnow (Tanichthys albonubes), and Black Molly (Poecilia sphenops).
Fish farming requires adequate funding for the start-up, housing, feeding maintenance, and veterinary care. A small fish farmer can earn up to N1.4 million a year and can start with about N500,000 while a bigger farm will require millions of naira for start-up. As common with starting any business, there are major aspects that need to be considered before embarking on fish farming. Such include writing a business plan, getting adequate knowledge and skill/training, understanding fish farming market and agro-climatic conditions, getting to know competitors and carving a niche, determining the size and cost of the proposed fish farm, manpower supply, registering the business, and checking the permission and licensing issues of the locality.
There are different farming methods that can be used for getting a good and suitable location. Adequate source of water, soil and water analysis are also key. Drainage, concrete ponds, tanks and open water facilities are suitable for catfish farming. Fishes should be protected against predatory insects by covering the tanks with mosquito nets. Approximately 80% of the cost of fish farming is about feed, as fishes have to be fed good and nutritious supplementary fish meals with sufficient availability of amino acids such as arginine, methionine, lysine and crude protein. Low cost conventional or unconventional animal by-products and plant residue such as groundnut cake, rice bran and soybean meal can equally be used. Extruded floating feeds are favoured by farmers in Nigeria because they allow observation of the feeding, thereby preventing waste, and destruction of heat labile anti-nutritional factors, ensuring that all necessary nutrients are available for the fishes and help to increase growth rate and production. Generally, artificial breeding through hormonal induction is used in catfish farming because catfish only breed naturally twice in a year (seasonally). A fish hatchery is an artificial fish breeding centre, and provides juvenile fishes to commercial (grow-out) fish farms.
Different ages and sizes of fish (fingerlings or juveniles) need to be sorted and separated from each other. Poor management practices like not sorting, overcrowding due to poor stocking, poor feeding of the fish, encourage carnivorous nature of catfish (cannibalism). If done right, catfish should hit table size in 10-12 weeks, and sold as soon as possible, to give room for the faster growing fish. This is evident in these age-long Yoruba proverbs “Ti e ja o ba sun, eja miran o le ri ounje je” and “Eja l’eja nje sanra”, which exemplify the cannibalism of fishes. Other major problems include bacterial diseases such as Aeromoniasis, Edwardsiella infection, Tuberculosis, Pseudomonas infection, fungal diseases such as Ichthyosporidium infection, parasitic diseases such as Ich (white spot disease), helminthosis, leeches, protozoan diseases such as myxosporidisis, viral diseases such as lymphocystis, tumours, congenital abnormalities, nutritional and metabolic diseases, ectoparasitism and physical injuries. All these require prompt veterinary attention.
As a developing nation, both small-scale and large-scale fish farming are very profitable and can make great contributions to our national income, but with proper planning and good management, N3 million investment in fish farming could easily result into N4 million profit within six months. Additionally, the business has good export potential, hence local, state, and federal governments need to create an enabling environment by control fluctuating exchange rate and providing facilities for the development of fish farming business in the country. Afterall, “Ori ni eja fi n laa ibu omi kooja”, meaning that we can only use what we have to get what we need.
Dr. Adenubi, an Associate Professor and Veterinarian, is a columnist with FarmingFarmersFarms, +2348025409691, bukiadenubi@gmail.com
