Facts about catfish production,management and marketing (ONLOOKER)

                             

Catfishes of the family Claridae comprise the most commonly cultivated fishes in Nigeria. The growth of aquaculture in Nigeria now is largely being boosted by a steady rise in catfish culture. Since the culture of Clarias gariepinus through hypophysation was initiated in Western Nigeria in 1973, the procedure has been widely practiced throughout Nigeria thus leading to increase of farm-raised catfishes from the 80’s to date.

The favoured catfish species in Nigeria aquaculture include: Clarias gariepinus, Heterobranchus bidorsalis, Clarias X Heterobranchus hybrid (Heteroclarias) and Clarias nigrodigitatus. Heterobranchus sp is the more commonly cultured fish in the South Eastern parts of Nigeria.

THE CULTURE SYSTEM: Because of the cannibalistic nature of Clarias gariepinus, multiple sorting is essential. For outdoor fry/fingerlings rearing, screening of the tanks with mosquito nets is recommended to prevent dragonfly and other predatory insects from breeding in the ponds. Poly-culture of Clarias gariepinus and Tilapia species is practiced. A poly-culture of Clarias gariepinus and Oreochromis niloticus, integrated with poultry with some supplementary feeding had been shown to be viable.

FEED AND FEEDING: Feed and feeding of catfishes in grow outs ponds are perhaps the most documented in literature. Various efforts have been made to establish the crude protein and amino acid requirement of C. gariepinus. Ayinla (1988) recommended 35% and 40% crude protein (Cp) for raising table size and brood stock respectively. Of the 10 essential amino acids (EAA) required by warm water fish species, only 3 EAAs studied have been documented and these are arginnie, methionine and lysine. In order to formulate and compound aqua feeds that will meet the nutrient requirements of the catfish at affordable cost, several conventional and non-conventional animal by-products and plant residues have been tested to substitute or replace fishmeal.Feeding development has moved from the use of single ingredient, broadcasting un- pelleted meal to pelleting and in fact the use of pelleted floating feed which has made a big difference to aquaculture development in Nigeria as C. gariepinus is being raised to maturity within 6 months.

HYBRIDIZATION OF Clarias gariepinus x Heterobranchus longifilis: The yearnings of farmers and scientists to have a farmed catfish that combines the fast growth traits of Heterobranchus spp and early maturing traits of C. gariepinus led to the development of a hybrid ‘Heteroclarias’ spp. The technology was widely accepted as it gave 58% internal rate of return (IRR) on investment.

CULTURE SYSTEM MODIFICATION: In the review of Oresegun et al (2007), it was stated that early fish farmers in Nigeria raised their fish in burrow pits, abandoned minefields and in earthen ponds on extensive production system. The introduction of concrete tanks allows for manageable pond size and modification of the environment through a water flow-through system and supplementary feeding thus allowing for higher fish yield. The advent of the indoor water re- circulatory system (WRS) has ushered in a new prospect for aquaculture. The introduction of WRS has created a turning point in the production of catfish in Nigeria.

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How to own, manage, and make millions from catfish farming business   

CONTENT                                                                                              pages

Title Page ……………………………………………………………………..1

 Table of Content……………………………………………………………2

Dedication ……………………………………………………….………….5

Acknowledgement ……………………………………………….…………5

Preface ……………………………………………………………………….6

Chapter One: Introduction

1.1          Catfish ……………………………………………….……………8

1.2          Why is catfish different from other fishes? ……………………………..8

1.3          Fish classification ………………………………..……………….9

1.4          Habitat………………………………………….……………….10

1.5          Morphology …………………………………..…………………10

Chapter Two:

2.0 Giant Catfish of the World……………………….….…………………17

2.1          Scientific classification ……………………….………………….18

2.2          SPECIES CHARACTERISTICS…………………………………18

Chapter Three:

3.0          Catfish Family……………………………………………………22

3.1          Larval production …….……………………….…………………23

3.2          The culture system ………………………………………………..23

3.3          Feed and Feeding …………………………………………………23

3.4          Hybridization of catfish ……………………….………………….24

3.5          Culture system modification ………………….…………………..24

3.6          Prospect and problems of cultured fish ……………………………24   

Chapter Four:

4.0          How to own a Mega fish farm Business…………………….…….26

Chapter Five:

5.0          Pond……………………………………………………………….29

5.1          standard features of a fish pond …………………..………………29

5.2          Types of pond ………………………………..……………………30

5.3          Earthen (Natural) Pond …………………..………………….…….30

5.4          Concrete Pond ………………………………………………………33

5.5          Tarpaulin/Plastic/ Mobile Pond …………………………………….34

5.6          Step in fish Pond establishment ………………..……………………35

5.7          Important of liming ……………………….………..……………….36

5.8          Fertilizing a pond ……………………………………..……………37

5.9          Fish Pond management …………………………………..…………38

Chapter Six:

6.0           Fish Stocking ……………………….…………………………….40

6.1Stocking of fish can take the form of mono/poly-culture ………..……….40

Chapter Seven:

7.0          channel catfish …………………………….…………………………41

7.1          Species of channel catfish ……………………….………………..42

6.2          Life cycle of channel catfish ………………….….………………..42.

Chapter Eight:

8.0          The Electric Catfish …………………………………………………44

8.1          Feeding in electric catfish ……………………………………….…44

8.2          Firing in electric fish ……………………………………………….46

8.3          Importance tips in managing electric catfish ………………………47

Chapter Nine:

9.0          African Giant catfish ……………………………………………….49

9.1          Habits of African catfish in the wide ……………………………….50

9.2          Natural spawning in the wide ………………………………..…….50

9.3          Rearing of African giant catfish ………………………………..…50

Chapter Ten:

10.0        Spawning ………………………………………………………….54

10.1        Hatching techniques in catfish ……………………….…………..55

10.2        materials needed for (hatching) spawning …………………….…55

10.3        Prerequisite for (Hatching) spawning in catfish …………….……55

10.4        Steps in (hatching) spawning ………………………………….…56

10.5        Some reasons why spawning (Hatching) falls …………….……..63

10.6        Characteristics of catfish stages ……………………………….…63

10.7        Transportation of catfish ………………………………………..…65

Chapter Eleven:

11.0        Fish Management ……………………………………………….…67

11.1        How to identify oxygen Depletion in ponds…….…………….……68  

11.2        Questions most people ask about catfish management …………….68

Chapter Twelve:

12.0        Fish parasite and Diseases …………………………………………..75

12.1        Fish Disease ……………………………………………….……..…75

12.2        Causes of Diseases ………………………………………………….76

12.3        Types of Disease ……………………………………………………76

Chapter Three:

13.0        Fish preservation ……………………………………………………84

13.1        Method of fish preservation ………………………….………………84

13.2        Fish salting …………………………………………………….…….8.4

13.3        Drying and Dehydration ……………………………………………..86

13.4        Fish smoking ……………………………………………………..…87  

13.5        How to smoke fish ……………………………………………………88         

Chapter Fourteen:

14.0        How to make millions from catfish production ………………….…..90

14.1        Advertising ………………………………………………..…………90

14.2        Marketing ………………………………………………………..….91

14.3        Marketing strategy ………………………………………………..….91

14.4        How to sustain millions in catfish business………………………..…93

List of figures

Fig.1.1   Labeled diagram of a typical tilapia fish ……………………………..…… 12

Fig 1.2 labeled diagram of a typical catfish ……………………………….….13

Fig 1.3 Labeled diagram of a typical external anatomy of a tilapia fish ……..14

 Fig 1.4 Labeled diagram of a typical external anatomy of a carpio cyprisnus.14 

Fig 1.5 Labeled diagram of a typical internal anatomy of a tilapia fish…………14

Fig 1.6 Typical example of catfish ………………………………….…………15  

Fig 8.1 Diagram of electric catfish organs …………………….……………….45

Fig 9.1 claries gariepinus sample ………………….…………………………..50 

Fig 9.2 Heterobranchus Bidorsal Sample ……………….………………….….51

Fig 10.1 Diagram on how to inject the catfish ………………………………….57

Fig 10.2 Diagram on how to extract the milt (sperm) from catfish ………….….59

Fig 10/3 Diagram on how to strip off eggs from catfish and to fertilize them …61

List of tables

Table 2.1 scientific classification of catfish …………………….……….………19

Table 3.1 catfish families ………….……………………………………………22 

Table 5.1 table showing water retention in soil …………..…….………………32

Table 8.1 scientific classification of electric catfish ………………………..……44

Table 9.1 African Giant catfish ……………………………..………………..…49