The economic impact of diseases and parasitic problems in freshwater fish production

Diseases and parasitic problems could constitute significant economic losses in fish production if not controlled, thus the need to continue monitoring its prevalence. Based on field studies on feral and intensively raised fish at the Kainji Lake Research Institute Nigeria, some diseases and parasitic problems have been identified. These include; helminthiasis; fungal disease; protozoa which include Myxosoma sp., Myxobolus spp., Henneguya sp., Trichodina sp., Ichthopthrius sp. bacterial mainly Aeromonas sp., Pseudomonas sp., mechanical injuries; death due to unknown causes and economic assessment of myxosporidian infection. Suggestion for disease control in fish production are recommended

Commercial pond fish culture

Commercial pond fish culture practice is comparatively new in Nigeria. It is therefore very important that simple guidelines be provided for the establishment, development, and management of such projects. The objective of this paper is to fulfill this urgent need. All aspects of commercial pond fish culture are dealt with. Fish pond operations comprise of pond preparation, stocking, rearing, and harvesting. These have been highlighted in the text, bearing in mind that the most important principle of fish culture is the acquisition of maximum production of marketable-size pond fish from a given unit area

Commercial pond fish culture using waste water

Waste water from some National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) housing units in Nigeria was fed to a 0.4 ha pond which was stocked with 2,200 Sarotherodon galilaeus fingerlings with a mean weight of about 36.0gm and 1000 Cyprinus carpio fingerlings with a mean weight of 10gm. This yielded after 10 months, over 2300 kg of harvestable fish plus over 20,000 Sarotherodon galilaeus fingerlings. The growth rate of C. carpio was not very encouraging possibly because of the type of plankton that colonised the pond. The S. galilaeus became stunted because of overpopulation as there were no carnivores to control their excessive breeding. The physico-chemical parameters were favourable for the growth of fish food organisms

Some experiments on commercial pond fish culture in the tidal mangrove area of Niger delta of Nigeria

A pilot fish culture project was initiated by Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited in 1981 with specific aims and objectives. Site selection, survey, pond construction method and fish production with regards to experiences gathered and gained, problems and solutions so far obtained are discussed. Trials of freshwater fish species to check their adaptability to brackishwater ponds were carried out and the promising results of the growth rate of these species when compared with the traditional local brackishwater species selected for culture are reported. The extension programme so far carried out is briefly described