Given the growing importance of both production and consumption of global fish products in developing countries, the fish sector would seem to offer important opportunities for poor farmers to increase their income by producing fish sustainably and to improve and diversify their diets by increased fish consumption.
Therefore towards intensifying aquaculture for sustainable purpose, it is important that productivity is raised and intensified.
Guide to Raising and Encourage Aquaculture Productivity
The expansion and intensification of aquaculture production has been accompanied by increased movements of live aquatic animals and products, making the accidental spread of disease more likely.
Poor water quality, high cost of feeding, scarce and poor seed quality for stocking can lead to pond abandonment and land degradation. These observations therefore suggest that there is need to design a framework towards ensuring that fish reach the table of every common man in Nigeria at all times and at affordable prices.
1. Role of biotechnology in the Fish Sector
Compared with the advances achieved in the production of terrestrial animals, breeding technology in aquaculture is in its relative infancy. Genetic modification and biotechnology also hold tremendous potential to improve the quality and quantity of fish reared in aquaculture, although not without significant controversy and risk.
Biotechnology has the potential to enhance reproduction and the early developmental success of cultured organisms. Improved feed conversion efficiency in genetically altered fish would reduce the amount of feed inputs and wastes per unit output, possibly placing less pressure on the environment.
Better growth and survival rates of cultured fish could reduce production costs per unit of output, possibly bringing down the price of fish to consumers.
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2. Fish Feed and Nutrition
It is rightly observed by aquaculture experts that fish feeding alone accounts for over 60% of the total cost of aquaculture production especially due to the high rising in the cost of fishmeal and fish oil in aqua-feeds.
To this end there have been intensive and concerted efforts in researching into using alternative feed ingredients to replace fishmeal and other expensive conventional fish feed ingredients with some levels of success.
The replacement of fishmeal with chicken offal was successful at 75% level conferring the best advantage for catfish production likewise, the use of feather meal and shrimp meal in the replacement of fishmeal have also attains some level of success.
Similarly, the replacement of some plant protein source with another have also started which is still growing and the presence of anti-nutritional substances as limiting factor should be eliminated to ensure maximum utilisation as in the use of leucaena seeds meal in the replacement of soy bean meal.
3. Pollution Control and Waste Management
Now that the need for intensive aquaculture has been identified, it follows that large-scale and intensive systems use higher levels of inputs and often generate high levels of outputs that can create environmental problems. Effluent from aquaculture can raise problems both for the environment and for the surrounding farms.
However, minimising water exchange through recirculation has the dual benefit of reducing water demand and minimising the effluent problem. Other steps to improve water quality include calibration of the amount of feed used in order to minimise waste, integrated systems that raise complementary organisms to reduce unwanted outputs, and capital improvements such as aerators and pumps.
4. Role of Policy Makers
Policymakers have the task of ensuring that the fish sector contributes to poverty reduction and environmental sustainability in Nigeria. They should facilitate institutions that can help improve the governance of ten marine and coastal resources and fresh water fisheries.
There is the need to also develop transparent and process-based food safety systems for consumers and focus on the sources of pollution in fisheries that most endanger human health and sustainability.
To ensure the survival of small-scale fish farmers, there should be favourable policies that promote market information, certification and extension system that culminate in and consolidates farmers’ cooperatives.
They should redirect subsidies presently going to increase marine fishing operations to improving resource management and information systems.
Finally, they should create a monitoring and planning function for fisheries policy within relevant ministries to ensure that the sector gets the policy attention it deserves.
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