Fish farming is one of the most lucrative agribusiness that have make millions of entrepreneurs in Africa rich. Many young investors want to indulge in the business because of the high yield in ROI ( return on investment) but fail to understand the challenges surrounding it so at the end they end up losing.
In Nigeria, fresh water fishes such as Tilapia and Cat fish are reared but the most common fish most farmers breed is Cat fish which is known as "Clarias gariepinus" and the reason is that, it can be easily maintained once you have all the appropriate requirements.
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Catfish is most compatible with poultry farming as you can use the poultry drops to produce their feeds.
The rate of consumption of cat fish in Nigeria is not as high as that of mackerel; which happen to be the most popular fish in Nigeria market but so said its not farm, its a marine (salt) water fish and farmers are still trying to find out how to rear salt water fish.
Fish farmers encounter a lot of challenges especially whenever there is a disease outbreak in there ponds.
The causative agent causing disease in fresh water are categorized into four which are:
Parasitic, bacteria, fungi, protozoa and viral diseases
The most common disease they encounter is a parasite disease know as Ichthyophthirius multifilis or ich/ick.
Ich is a parasite that affect the skin, fin, gills and tale of fresh water fish. The funny thing about these parasite is that its always present in every pond but not always effective unless the fish is subjected to injury.
That is why is it always advisable to sort you fish. Separate the ones that have spines from the ones that don't have so that during feeding, the ones with spines won't puncture others that are defenseless.
Ich/ick present in the pond invade the body of the injured fish, migrate to the gills where it begins to feed on it on the gills.
Symptoms of ich/ick
- Whitened area deep into the fish's flesh. Muscle degeneration leading to abnormal swimming movement.
- Having problem breathing.
- Loss of appetite
- Emaciation
Economic importance of Ick
- It lead to low productivity.
- High cost of treatment.
- Reduce the source of revenue.
- Mortality rate reduces the production of fish.
Treatment
- Remove or cull infected fish.
- Move to a recuperation tank with antibiotics in case of physical injury to eye.
- Add tetracycline, chloromycetin (chloramphenicol) or another antibiotic.
- Improved diet with vitamin A.
Penicillin or amoxicillin.
Farmers should always endeavor to check there water quality, make sure that oxygen present in the water is sufficient and constantly change the water at least 2-3 days (depending on area) so as to maintain a healthy environment for this spices.
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