Catfish Production: Farmers Should Increase Production For Export – Experts

Apart from being able to meet local consumption capacity in catfish production, experts in the aquaculture business have suggested that Nigeria should harness the resources at her disposal and begin to produce catfish for export to earn additional revenue for the country.

The idea was muted by a renowned aqua-culturist and Executive Secretary of the Fisheries Society of Nigeria (FISON) Dr. (Mrs.) Charity Oche, while speaking with Saturday Newswatch on the achievements of the association at promoting the sector.

Oche, who claimed that the catfish farming in Nigeria has expanded in recent times, attributed the expansion to the demand for more fish by many Nigerians who believe they can improve their protein intake with the consumption of fish.

She explained that this is made possible because the large scale commercial production of catfish across the country had led to its affordability and availability.

A kilogramme of cat fish which used to cost about N500 now sells for about N450. This development, a catfish dealer on Bamako Street, Omole Estate, Ikeja, Mrs. Jite Osamarita Al-hassan, claimed was caused by the increasing number of catfish farmers and improved technologies applied in the production of the aquatic product.

Explaining the reason catfish has become the most cultivated type of fish, Oche said, “There are categories of fish, ranging from those that need very salty waters of the ocean to survive to those found in slightly less salty water. However, because catfish can live in freshwater, the same kind of water human beings drink, it can easily be found in fish farms everywhere”.

She added that FISON has done a lot to help fish farmers develop the catfish value chain. From the designing and construction of the production systems to the production procedures employed, she insisted that FISON has had an input.

Specifically, she said the body is assisting fish farmers across the country to acquire latest technologies in hatcheries design, acquisition of fingerlings and standardization in fry production procedures, including sanitation. Hatchery producers are however, being taught standard transfer procedures (size, density, oxygen, and temperature).

The FISON Executive Secretary also informed that the organisation even invited an aquaculture expert, Dr Skip Jack, from the Mississippi State University to assist farmers.

She said that with the information received from the resource person, many Nigerian catfish farmers have come to the realization that because Nigeria lies above the equator, her catfish are more tolerant to low-oxygen than those in Mississippi. With this, they know that in Nigeria, fish farmers do not have to aerate their ponds, like their colleagues in the USA.

She said that the organisation took the expert round the country, educating catfish farmers on how to keep their fishponds healthy, since badly maintained ponds can affect the growth of fingerlings, which at that tender stage are prone to attack by viruses and other pathogens.

The importance of growing the catfish industry according to the FISON boss is that “eighty percent of food consumed in Nigeria is imported, and although it is self reliant in production and consumption of fish foods, none of its catfish is exported. Most of the catfish she said “is sold fresh in local markets or smoked and is eaten on the go with various delicacies.”

Dr. Oche therefore, noted that with enhanced management, strategic compliance as well as best practices in the industry, fish farmers have been made aware of the need to remain in business, as they diversify in the method of preservation of their hatcheries.

Similarly Mrs. Fadeke Adeniyi, the Principal Officer, Fisheries Department of the Federal Ministry of Aquaculture and Marine Research, Victoria Island, Lagos, said that fish farming, especially for freshwater catfish, was on the rise as a result of the impact of government investment in the Catfish Farming Sector, which has seen many farmers receiving catfish fingerlings and feeds from the World Bank as Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise, (MSME) based a pilot programme that began in 2005.

Since 2011, the government initiative has continued to show visible results as Nigeria recently gained recognition for its forefront role in aquaculture, by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), after many farmers were empowered with numerous skills.

According to her, NEPAD research has shown that market opportunities were opening up for farmers to export both full grown catfish and fingerlings, while there was also remarkable networking among them. She added that the government would continue its programmes with the World Bank to train more people to appreciate the import of aquaculture to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Also, the FG has firmly supported various projects being implemented by the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) through a Project Management Unit (PMU) managed by Nathan Associates of London.

However, government recognizes some problems with existing production systems, such as Stagnant Earthen Pond systems; the Flow-through systems; and Re-circulating systems which fail to deliver the anticipated yields because of an inadequate design of the ponds and tanks to fit a production plan.

Also, some farmers sometimes fail to adhere to feed efficiency, because they do not recognise the concepts of QFCR (quantitative feed efficiency measure) or cost-FCR (financial feed efficiency measure), and are not able to adjust to the feeding rate to maximise its efficiency.

Similarly, water quality management was most often poor, with no follow up on biomass, Ammonia content amongst other things, and farmers did not control main pond production indicators like population growth and size distribution.

However, government aquaculture agencies were looking into other relevant Critical Limiting and Influencing Factors (CLIFs) outside of the production site, defined as a component of the value chain which affects in a critical way value chain components and the whole system.

The goal would be to conduct specialised training programmes for 25 trained veterinarians on fish disease diagnosis, their causes, treatment, control and prevention, a specific intervention financed with additional resources from the government of Israel.

There would be a development module for training loan officers of commercial banks to appraise loan applications from catfish farmers. A total of 57 credit officers of commercial banks and microfinance institutions were trained.

And the relevant agencies would support the establishment of a standards and accreditation system through FISON, provide capacity building to 136 members of aquaculture associations to make the associations more effective in service delivery to members and policy advocacy, including the provision of information on input and output suppliers, prices and trends in major markets.

Similarly, government has incentivised the rehabilitation of catfish farms. Although the programme only supported the rehabilitation of two farms to use as training locations, the demonstration effect led to other farms realising the need to improve. As a result, another 6 farms in Kaduna; 8 in Abia State and 2 in Lagos State reportedly commenced the rehabilitation of their farms.

These initiatives helped in the development of around 140 trainers and consultants that had acquired best practice skills and knowledge to support the design, construction and operation of catfish farms. Indeed, according to Mrs. Adeniyi, competency has increased by over 20 percent because of government interventions.

Meanwhile, government is strengthening the capabilities of FISON and the Catfish Farmers Association of Nigeria (CAFAN) to provide services and policy advocacy to its members. For example, government programme supported CAFAN to develop a mechanism for price control in markets, process bulk purchase of materials to cut cost and influence Lagos and Kaduna State in establishing special catfish trading markets.

This has helped improve best practices in the industry through the development of new standard regulations and an accreditation system. As a result of the programme, FISON published guidelines for standards in the industry, and commenced induction processes for its members to help them achieve minimum standards. There has been significant impact on the yields and incomes of catfish farmers.

Also, Mrs Adeniyi pointed out the importance of supporting the building of demonstration farms that conform to best practice principles, adapted to the local conditions, so that they can serve as training ground for consultants, farmers and extension service experts.

In fact, the farms could become semi-independent by supplying seed-fry to farmers and selling fish to the market as part of its budget, and could be a place for Research and Development in aquaculture. But other interventions are needed to encourage good quality fish feed production in Nigeria, which remains one of the major bottlenecks for developing the catfish industry.

While catfish farmers’ skills and knowledge gap is still significant and sustained, support is going to be

required to address overdue dependency of the industry on outdated traditions and simplistic fish farming and value chain practices. More specifically, training programmes by organisations like FISON and CAFAN should focus on the quantitative aspects of project design, construction and operation.

Clearly, according to Mrs Adeniyi, the limited cooperation among different aquaculture associations and cooperatives that is still limited, needs supporting to create an environment for collaboration, co-existence and synergy.

Another important element is access to finance for aquaculture projects and new interventions should target banks’ divisional heads, top managers and policy initiators as they are the ones who decide on the loan and industry lending policies of banks.

Already, FISON has been running seminars to acquaint farmers with the need for having business plans, which FISON can assist them acquire so as to be able to access credit facilities and loans from the banks.

Likewise, government recognises that it is not proper for sporadic production output, which limits marketing options for catfish farmers, who can then only dispose of their product through middle men who control the market and dictate low purchase price.

She summed up the policy thrust of government as creating an enabling environment for periodic meeting, coming to agreement with all relevant stakeholders on the key interventions required for the development of the catfish industry in Nigeria as well as providing concrete guidelines for their implementation.

culled from NBF news