18th August, 2024
By Isa Isawade
The question of whether fish farming is profitable or not has been asked and answered countless times, and it’s usually answered in the affirmative.
Going by the information gathered from farmers by PMNEWS on the field and the fact that domestic production currently in Nigeria is far from meeting the demand for fish, the fish farming business should be profitable any day.
However, the profitability rate, as professed by so many motivational writers is highly exaggerated.
Though the business in Nigeria has been rewarding for some farmers because demand has always been higher than supply, it has proved highly challenging for quite many.
This writer gathered from research and field interviews that its profitability depends largely on some key factors.
These factors are itemised below:
Expertise: Required training and skills must be acquired before going into fish farming. Lack of knowledge, inexperience and inadequate skills have proved to be the bane of its success for many farmers. A fish farmer at Ajasa-Command, Lagos, Muniham Alabidun admitted that inexperience nearly ruined his business in the beginning.
Sufficient capital: The many shared experiences of fish farmers indicate that starting the business with insufficient capital is failing from the onset. Alh Ibrahim Adeleke, a fishery operator in the Agbenaje Community of Ikola, Lagos said though the business was profitable he had to suspend it at a time for lack of sufficient funds.
According to him, “The fish must be fed three times a day. Any attempt to skip meals leads to the fishes eating themselves to the shortage of the farmer. If the feeds are not rich or regularly served, they will stop growing.
Regular supply of clean water: Water is to the fish what air is to man. Water supply to your fish ponds must be sufficient, regular and clean. Another big-time fish farmer who ran away from the business after operating her fish farm for over a decade, Alhaja Afusat Adebare said the constant big budget outlay required and the stress involved were killing.
“Fish farming requires big capital if you must make good profit from it. And the bigger the capital, the bigger the stress. It’s quite stressful,” Alhaja Adebare maintained.
According to her, the water in the ponds must be changed at two days intervals. Failure to do so may lead to high mortality.
“You must change their water every two days, otherwise they may all die within a few days unless they are in a natural habitat, that is natural ponds,” Adebare explained.
Muniham spoke in the same vein, saying contamination of his borehole once led to mass deaths of his fish. This, he said made his farm suffer a huge loss.
He said he later realised that the borehole supplying water to the ponds should be treated at least once in a year.
Feeding: As indicated above, adequate daily ration for the fish must not be compromised.
“The food a set of fingerlings will eat to maturity must have been provided for. It must be ready if you don’t want to run into trouble,” Alhaji Adeleke said.
Alhaja Adebare buttressed that “the bulk of your budget goes for feeding which must be rich and sufficient. The fishes eat a lot.”
Muniham, who was already overcoming some of the initial challenges noted what he regarded as a sad occurrence when his farm was supplied with “substandard or fake feeds. The fishes suddenly stopped growing, making us suffer losses again.”
Management: This means maintenance of the fish and the day-to-day activities of the fishery.
Muniham said the first challenge his farm encountered was poor management which he said led to infections and deaths among his fish population. This, he said, was caused by algae growth in the ponds because he shirked the responsibility of regularly washing the ponds.
According to him, the farmer must have all the time or employ capable hands to regularly monitor the fish, apply the correct ration of feeds, do sorting when due and thoroughly wash the ponds when dirty.
He also said the source of their water must be treated, at least, once a year to avoid contamination.
Pond: Alh Adeleke explained that the ponds must be deep to take enough water. According to him, it must be at least two feet of water from the bottom and two feet of space above the water. The ponds must be well maintained and protected.
He advised the use of tarpaulin to protect the fish in the natural ponds against flood and theft.
Quality of fingerlings: You must ensure that you procure good quality fingerlings. There are poor-quality ones that cannot grow, no matter the amount of food they consume. Rearing such will always result in losses, the farmers revealed.
Conclusion: The farmers were asked to categorically say whether they found fish farming profitable or not. Alhaja Adebare said “No gain no loss in fish farming” while others were of the opinion that the business is profitable only if the aforementioned key issues are properly addressed.
