Guide to Fisheries and Fish Production
In many parts of the world, there is an increasing need for abundant sources of high-protein food to meet the protein requirements of the ever-increasing population, and the associated supply and costs of animal protein sources, such as meat, milk, and eggs.
Fish production provides a renewable source of cheap, high-quality animal protein and it is, therefore, highly emphasized as an agriculture sub-sector. Fisheries not only supply fish of various types but also other aquatic living organisms, including plants such as seaweeds and coral reefs.
Based on the source of production, the fishing industry is divided into two groups, namely;
1. Capture Fisheries
This involves fishing in the open sea. Fish are regarded as natural endowments and captured freely without consideration for their reproduction, growth, and development. Fishing is done by fishermen at no cost and without replacement.
However, the system accounts for more than 90% of the total domestic fish production. There are two sub-divisions, namely Industrial fisheries and Small-scale fisheries. The latter is further divided into Subsistence fisheries and Artisanal fisheries.
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The bulk (about 80%) of fish production from capture fisheries is contributed by the artisanal sector and the remaining contribution comes from the industrial sector.
2. Industrial Fisheries
The features of this system are higher capital/labor ratio, inboard diesel engines, general ownership of boats by entrepreneurs with the boats manned by salaried crews, high level of organization, and efficient shore-based infrastructural facilities (berths for vessels, stores for products); and generally high productivity (catch per unit effort) and incomes.
Fish Production Systems
1. Small-Scale Fisheries
This system employs small, traditional, largely unmotorised craft, and simple, hand-operated gears; it involves low capital investment, low production per unit effort, usually marine, brackish, and inland water operations, unreliable statistics of landing catches, scattered fishing units, high labor requirement, poorly-developed storage, and processing plants and therefore, high spoilage and wastage losses, and inadequate credit facilities from banks.
2. Artisanal Fisheries
The features of this system are remoteness of village fishing centres to commercial centres; poor access roads to fishing villages; inadequate preservation and processing capabilities; absence of appropriate village-level extension services; absence of a well-established marketing system and associated infrastructure; and inaccessibility to formal credit market in addition to inadequate knowledge of the lending channels.
3. Culture Fisheries
This is the growing of fish in confined water bodies through the manipulations of water parameters and fish to achieve desired production level. It is also referred to as Fish farming or Aquaculture. It can be likened to intensive livestock farming or a battery cage system in poultry production.
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