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| CATFISH |
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| Tilapia Fish |
Fish farming is one of the fast growing lucrative agriculturalbusinesses in Nigeria, Africa and the world as a whole.
The development and advancement of science and technology as giving birth
to the scientific water body (pond) of raising, breeding, monitoring
fish and the entire husbandry of aquaculture.
Gone are those days when fishermen have to go to the river or deep water bodies like oceans and
sea before we can have fish to eat, if this system still exist am sure
it cannot feed one quarter of the entire human population.
Fish farming is growing at a fastidious rate and it's just so alarming
in this part of the world, most people prefer fish meat to other
animals and thus this as enhanced the consumption in fact in Nigeria
currently the demand of fish is greater than the supply and this
demands for more fish farmers to come into this never-going-to-be
saturated industry simply because the human population grows at a
geometric rate.
Actually there are so many information on the World Wide Web on "how
to start fish farming" but I will try as much as possible to hit the
major points here and to be practical I will tell you the raw facts
you need to know before venturing into fish farming Business.
If you are starting or planning on how to start fish farming Business
in Nigeria I'd recommend that you start with catfish farming in
Nigeria.
If you are already a farmer and you are into some other agricultural
business I will strongly advice you consider fish farming as it's not
too demanding and you can start on a small scale it doesn't affect
your current business flow it only an additional source of income and
an increase to your farm holdings, I can strongly say this with my
mouth fish farming in Nigeria is capable of employing you full-time
and it capable of giving you the kind of financial freedom you so
much desire if you can persevere, persist, have the positive mind that
it will yield out a good result and follow the foot step of others who
are already successful in fish farming Business.
Reasons why you should consider fish farming Business:
1. Fish is one of the highest source of animal protein to the diet of
majority of people, fish has low fat and high quality protein that is
filled with omega-3-fatty acids and even many more useful body
vitamins that you cannot resist in normal body function am sure so
many people already understand this and that is why larger percentage
of people eat fish compare to meat.
2. Fish contains some essential body nutrient that includes
Phosphorus, Calcium, Iron, zinc, Iodine, Magnesium, Potassium and
some important nutritional body needing vitamins likes Vitamin D and
B2 (riboflavin), probably the benefits stated above are responsible
for the reason why doctors and medical practitioners recommend fish
for many illness and patients, anything that enhances the health is a
good business to venture into.
3. Fish tends to sell faster than any other animal products in the
food market and its relatively cheaper than meat am sure al thing must
have attracted the interest of non-stop fish consumers so having this
understanding simply means there is an unending and stable market for
fish, so you as a fish framer that is just starting you don't have to
worry as your consumer are already waiting to buy from you.
4. Fish farming is also lucrative because fish tends to grow very fast
as practices in fish farming make this to be very possible for farmers
to hasten the growth of their fishes by administering some feeds and
medication to them with some expert practices making it possible to
easily sell your fishes.
5. Fish farming is capable of growing your farm holding, financial
standard and it can double your investment within a year or two
depending on the standard and system adopted provided all terms
required are adhere to, with proper planning and effective management
N3 million investment in fish farming could easily result to N4
million pure profit within a year.
6. Another good thing about Fish is that they don't cause any harm,
infection or environmental hazard, they don't make noise so with this
you can easily raise up a small fish pond at the backyard of your
house and making it possible for you to start small, grow it big with
time and even provide animal protein for your local domestic
consumption.
Challenges encounter in Fish farming and solution.
1. Fish is a very simple but sensitive animal and any mix up or
mismanagement can cause a lot of havoc in the fish farming or ruin the
business of the farmer or even death which may cause a massive loss so
you have to be sensitive to some of this precautions in your fish
farming business
* Fish farm must be located in a cool and no noise area (under a tree
shade is good)
* Fish farm must not be 100% directly exposed to the sunlight
* Not even by mistake should you get small quantity of salt into a
fish farm a it will kill all the fishes when they are fresh water e.g.
Catfish and Tilapia.
* Fish pond must be situated in an area where it is highly protected
from the attack of predators.
2. You have to bear in mind that settling up a fish farm can be
capital intensive and its not a child play thing adequate preparation
and readiness must be put in place unless the business will ruin down
in less than two month.
3. Settling up a fish pond can be some-what technical and it requires
a service of an expert so I strongly recommend you get directions or
employ an expert fish pond builder to help raise up your own fish pond
for you because there is no gimmick about it if you should build it up
by yourself you are running down the farm gradually don't be lazy at
investing properly into your farming business. I advice you make
proper enquiry and plan well or get good financial support before
starting.
4. Base on your preference and choice you might consider selling your
fish inside your fish farm and on the long run you might consider
selling it at the market which I strongly recommend because it will
attract a good appreciable market value.
MAJOR TYPES OF FISH TO CONSIDER FOR A FISH FARMING BUSINESS
Now that you have seen and known the benefits, opportunities and the
major challenges in fish farming let proceed to the major types of
fish that worth farming for and that has more advantages over the
other.
1. CATFISH: This fish breed is the most widely cultivated fish species
in Nigeria and with a vast consumer ratio compare to others; it is
often served in ceremonies, eateries, hotels and many more places of
high influence.
One special thing about catfish is that in terms of
husbandry is one of the fish breed that is easy to cultivate and that
is why we have so many farmers that are raising catfish alone. I can
say CATFISH has the highest demand for fish in Nigeria and knowing
this means if you want to be successful as a fish farmer you mustn't
joke with CATFISH' Production.
2. TILAPIA: This is another important fish breed that cultivated and
consumed both locally and internationally, in fact it's the second
most cultivated fish in Nigeria there are only few differences between
Tilapia and Catfish ranging from Body structure, Tilapia is full of
born than Catfish now looking at the market system tilapia tends to be
more expensive than Catfish in Nigeria but verily we have some
die-hard fans of Tilapia fishes in Nigeria and it's a good quality
fish to consider for a standard fish farming Business. Another
interest thing about Tilapia fish is that it reproduces very rapidly
and grows very fast.
3. MACKEREL (TITUS): This is one of the most popular fish species in
Nigeria Market buts its unfortunate this fish is yet to be cultivated
and this can be traced to the fact that it's a "salt-water fish" and
not a fresh water like Catfish and Tilapia even though some experts
are considering if it will be possible to create an artificial salt
water body like sea water where Mackerel "I personally doubt the
possibility of this research" but time will tell us what comes, so
now let us focus our attention on "Catfish and Tilapia".
HOW TO START FISH FARMING BUSINESS
HERE ARE THE NECCESARY STEPA TO TAKE BEFORE STARTING A FISH FARM:
1. SECURE A LAND FOR FISH POND: Very important tool in fish farming is
land in fact I can say it's the 1st thing to consider before others
now follow, any suitable for man location can be use for fish pond but
if you are embarking on a large scale farming exercise you need to get
a large land for this though for small and medium scale half a plot
can be used as well depending on the system of production and number
of fish you want to raise, however you may go for 20 or 50 plots or
even hectares of land base on your production system.
2. CONSTRUCTION OF THE FISH POND: This is probably the second step, as
have said earlier, there are experts in this business so if you want
to succeed faster you need to follow the experts and do what they do,
there are different specifications and dimension in constructing or
building a fish pond so I advice you employ the service of an expert
to do this for you.
3. WATER SUPPLY FOR THE FISH POND: Another cogent and very important
resources that must be put in place before establishing a fish pond
anywhere is the availability of water, NOTE: Not any type of water but
clean and non-chemical or non -treated water, treated water can kill
the fish due to the element used in treating the water, any deficiency
in water supply in a fish pond can result to big-time loss and death
of the fishes. Natural water is best for this
e.g. River, Lakes around
but if this is not available another better system is digging a
Borehole water system -
if you are going to do this you will need a
overhead tank or water reservoir that will be connected to the fish
pond to supply neat ground water at all time.
4. STOCKING: This is yet another important aspect to take serious in
fish farming. After you might have process the necessary steps and put
them all in place the next thing is getting your small fishes usually
referred to as "Fingerlins and Juvenile" you can buy them from a farm
or specialist that are base on supplying healthy hatched small fishes
you can get Catfish or Tilapia but if you are just starting
I recommend Catfish as it is easier to handle and manage.
5.LEARN FISH FARMING in FULL | GET TRAINED: Fish farming as a
business requires intelligence, awareness and knowledge don't go for a
day training and you think you've know it all get yourself acquainted
to a big commercial fish farm and fish farmers around you who has
started and has made it in Fish farming don't seek advice from someone
who failed because such persons have nothing to offer.
Get trained
from experts for like 5months, reading books too is good but remember
this is business and everything you do here is highly practical.
Trial and error is not good in Business like this remember your
investment is at stake.
There is alot of stuiffs to discuss and share together on fish farming and the entire husbandry with time in our future post we will be bringing you more updates.
