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Is fish farming profitable? How can I tell if my fish farming business is profitable?
Fish farming has become increasingly popular in Nigeria. A large fast growing population has helped to form a strong base for the industry.
A lot of people are diving into fish farming. Making investments without any prior research or experience.
Many come out burnt and hence the growing opinion that fish farming isn't profitable.
The big question then becomes 🤔: IS FISH FARMING PROFITABLE?
The answer is YES, you can make good profit if your business is well planned and structured.
The following tips should help you ensure profitability
1.Farmers should know that fish farming is a water intensive business and as such, the farm should be sited in an area with readily affordable and accessible clean water.Affordable because water is pumped at a cost which adds up to your total expenditure.
When siting a farm, the farmer should look out for areas with easily accessible water reservoirs. Pumping water from boreholes with long depths makes farming unprofitable.The closer the water is to the surface, the less the farmer would have to spend on fuel.
2. The farmer needs to know the feed requirement (input), expected FCR and management practices needed to attain his desired output (weight in Kg or grams).
For every kg of weight a fish is to gain, at least 1 kg feed is needed. With proper farm management this figure can reduce ensuring more profit for the farmer and with poor farm management this figure can increase resulting in less profit for the farmer.
3. Next in line is seedling source and feed quality . Poor seedlings with stunted growth will not perform well even if fed with the best and most expensive feeds in the market.
Likewise the best seeds or fingerlings will not perform optimally if they are fed with poor quality feeds.
4. Is the farm's management practices. Poor farm management practice will reduce growth and performance of farm stock, even when the best seeds and feeds are used.
Also sorting of fish is very important because when you stock uneven seeds, high cannibalism occurs resulting in reduced quantity of fish stocked.
5. Finally, theft in farms is one of the major reasons for losses. Yes even with the best feeds, affordable and quality water, and the best management practices, theft will run your farm to the ground.
HOW DO I KNOW WHEN MY FARM IS MAKING PROFIT OR LOSS.
Farm records tell the farmer this. Total expenditure on feed, and other management costs should be duly recorded.
A farmer must not wait till harvest time to tell his fate or to know if his seedlings are stunted. Keeping records will equally help you know if feed from your farm is being diverted.
The importance of keeping farm records cannot be over-emphasized.
Posted : 20/04/2023 9:30 pm
Six (6) important considerations for tarpaulin fish ponds for profitable farming...
Over the years (hundreds of years I guess), various types of fish ponds have evolved with newer types having improvements over their predecessors.
Earthen pond used to be the main deal, but it had limitations that needed to be done away with.
It easily got flooded from rains or from river overflow (for those sited at river banks).
Also, since earthen ponds are difficult to site in enclosed locations, owners suffered losses from poachers and thieves.
Concrete ponds came on-board and became quite popular for use in rearing fishes.
But again, concrete ponds still had some challenges associated with them.
The evolution has been on like that and we are finally in the era of tarpaulin ponds, which currently constitute more than 80% of the ponds in farm now a days.
If you are thinking of buying or using mobile tarpaulin fish pond for your fishes, I would give you a go ahead but here is some advice;
1. Insist on “reinforced tarpaulin”.
This is the most important factor that you must put into consideration before you decide to use mobile tarpaulin fish pond for your farm.
There are different types of tarpaulin that have been in the market.
There are the normal ones used in making tents (like semi-permanent church/fellowship and other event centres), there are the ones used in making canopies (that people rent for traditional marriages) and there even other types used in making car parks.
They are all of different qualities and serve different purposes, and the one used for fish pond is the “reinforced tarpaulin”. Fish ponds that are made with the other type of tarpaulin usually break in two or three months, or even earlier.
Simply put, if it is not reinforced tarpaulin, don’t buy!
2. You can buy from Online Marketplaces, but be careful
Most of the complaints about fake tarpaulin ponds that I have received from members of various fish farming groups, are people who bought their tarpaulin fish ponds from online marketplaces like Jiji, Nairaland, Jumia, Konga, etc.
Most people on the online market space are posting jobs that they are knowledgeable about. In order to be safe in this market space, ensure a video of the person posting on site to be sure he or she is the exact person doing the job. Go ahead to request for more pictures or video of their job.
3. Ensure the use of very hard Wood for the installation
Make sure the wood use for the ponds are very hard wood that can withstand water and cannot be destroyed by termites. Such woods amongst many, could be "Eki " or Eru". Also ensure that the pond is coupled together with bolts and nuts to ensure easy dismantling and repositioning of pond in future if the need arises.
4. Buy more and try to negotiate for discount if you are buying in bulk
When buying up to ten or more tarpaulins fish pond, it is good practice to ask for a discount.
If you intend to really raise fishes, you will need more than one tarpaulin pond after all, so why not buy them at once and negotiate some cut. Even if it is 1% discount, it is something.
5. Smaller ponds can be better
If for example, you wish to raise about 3000 catfish to maturity and need tarpaulin fish pond for that, you can go for a tarpaulin that has the capacity to house 1000 table-size fishes each.
This is because it is always advisable to have two or even three ponds when starting out in order to have the opportunity to sort (or separate) your fishes on the basis of their sizes.
Else, the shoot outs (the fishes that quickly grow bigger than others) will begin to feed on the smaller ones.
So, instead of buying one very large pond to house 3000 fish from fingerlings/juvenile to table size (adult size), you should buy two or three smaller tarpaulins that can house 1000 fish each, so that you can have space for sorting as the fingerlings/juveniles grow.
Mind you, the more space the fishes have to swim around, the better the results you will get in terms of size and weight of the fishes within a set period of time.
6. Buy from a trusted supplier
Recently, lots of people have been flooding the market with inexperience on the construction of tarpaulin ponds, and with that have come alot of complaints about tarpaulin ponds from investors/farmers (hence the disadvantage).
There are several people who have complained of how they bought tarpaulin ponds from several vendors only for the ponds to break up in about two months. But like is typical of Nigeria, any good product soon gets overrun by imitations peddled by desperate, unruly or just naive individuals.
Posted : 23/07/2023 8:12 am
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