New Catfish Hatchery Opening at Ibadan

Available to all, interested fish farmers can buy 1g catfish fingerlings (clarias gariepinus) from the hatchery for around N10.00 or less, depending on the booking period and numbers. 

Broodstock are usually sourced from the durrantee fish industry but the hatchery is now in negotiations with a West African farm for broodstocks exchange. Around 50,000 1g catfish fingerlings are expected to be produced monthly, with this figure expected to rise to one million monthly. The hatchery is also contracted to supply fingerlings to Zartechs Agric.

The idea for the hatchery was created during the Worldbank TOT Intervention Programme for the catfish industry in 2008. Aquapro Agro Industry, incorporated in Nigeria in 2009 as an enterprise to provide inputs and consultancy services to aquaculture, especially the catfish industry, owns the hatchery and has seen the company move from a leased farm to this new permanent site in Ibadan. The new hatchery is now located at ojoku-badeku, 15 km off fasade junction, Ibadan-ile ife expressway, ibadan. 

The hatchery's location allows it to access a natural borehole for water use. The new permanent site is thanks to a youwin award from federal government of Nigeria. The company also facilitates and brokers a catfish insurance programme for customers who use Vital Fish Feed from Grandcereals ltd. 

This insurance programme, called NAIC, is an insurance a programme of the Nigerian government, but it is Grandcereals that will pay the premium on behalf of the farmer. Aquapro has been a consultant to Grandcereals since 2011 and south-west Nigeria recently and therefore will be stocking and selling their fish feeds.