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| Life fishes caught for fish farming business to build wealth |
Building wealth in fish farming is a gradual financial area in business, most farmers around the globe especially Nigerian has been utilizing for a long while now.
The risky and difficult trial method of catching
fishes in the past has been ruled out. Today, the modern farmers has devised a
more appropriate way of growing these fishes in the farm and still yield a large
output.
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Also read: Startup financial steps many ignore
Wealth in Fish Farming
1.
Fishery products is by far the most popular animal products in the market,
constituting more than 60% of meat products in the Nigerian
market alone.
2.
Fish is one of the highest source of protein. Fish is a low-fat high quality
protein that is filled with omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins such as D and B2
(riboflavin). Fish is also very rich in calcium and phosphorus and is equally a
great source of minerals, such as iron, zinc, iodine, magnesium, and potassium.
3.
Fish sells faster than any other animal products in the market and is
relatively cheaper than meats, making it the number one choice when it comes to
affordability.
4.
Fish grows very fast as practices in fish farming makes it possible for farmers
to increase the fastness of their fish growth by giving them certain feeds,
ensuring that you harvest and sell within short period of time.
5.
Fish is the biggest source of Omega-3 fatty acids which is extremely beneficial
to human heart; Omega-3 helps to keep our heart and brain very healthy. Since
bodies don’t produce Omega-3 fatty acids, the only source through which we can
get it is by what we eat, that is where fish comes to the rescue.
6.
Fish farming is very profitable. With proper planning and good management, N3
million investment in fish farming could easily result to N4 million of pure
profit within six months.
7.
Fish farm does not cause any environmental hazard. Unlike poultry farming, you
can setup fish farm anywhere, including residential areas. If you have a
specious compound, you can easily setup a small fish farm within your backyard
without any regulatory precaution.
Also read: How to build wealth in poultry farming - Beginner's guide
Also read: How to build wealth in poultry farming - Beginner's guide
Risks and Challenges In
Fish Farming
1.
Fish is very sensitive to manage and a slight mistake could result to
degenerated growth of your fish or even death which may cause massive revenue
loss.
2. Setting
up fish farm is capital intensive, much more than that of poultry and snail
farming. Setting up fish farm requires more careful planning and much capital
input. A relatively small fish farm may take up to N500,000 to setup, while
bigger ones takes millions of naira.
3. Due
to the cost of production, fish produced from the farm is priced higher than
those caught from the rivers and ponds by fishermen. Therefore, if there are
good quantity of fisherman’s fish in the market, you may find it difficult to
sell as people would prefer the cheaper ones.
4.
There is no byproduct in fishery unlike poultry where even the drop can be
harvested and sold to other farmers and make extra profit. In fishery, all you
get is the flesh.
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Also read: How to build wealth in goat farming - Beginner's guide
Types
Of Fish You Can Farm
Haven
seen the benefits as well as the risks involved in fish farming, let’s now
proceed to decide which specie of fish we want to farm. Below are some of the
most popular fish species that is suitable for Aquaculture.
1. Cat
Fish –
Even though Catfish is not the most popular fish in Nigeria, this fish species
is by far the most cultivated in Nigeria. One thing good about catfish is that
it is one of the easiest fish species to cultivate. So, people naturally flow
to the direction of fish specie they found to be the easiest to cultivate.
2.
Tilapia –
Second most popular fish in Nigeria’s aquaculture industry, Tilapia is a fish
species that lives in fresh shallow water. Tilapia is very easy to cultivate
and very popular in Nigerian market, it reproduces very rapidly and grows fast
too.
3.
Mackerel (Titus) –
This is by far the most popular fish in Nigerian market but so sad it’s not
farmed. All Mackerel Fish are “wild caught” but some farmer in Nigeria
are considering the possibility of creating artificial salty water that will be
similar to sea water where mackerel can only survive. Can this deep blue sea
fish specie be cultivated artificially? Only time will tell but for now, you
have to focus your attention to Catfish and Tilapia.
Also read: How to build wealth in pig farming - Beginner's guide
Also read: How to build wealth in pig farming - Beginner's guide
Requirements
for Fish Farming
1. Land – Any location is good since fish
doesn’t cause any environmental disturbance. Look for land where you can get it
cheap and buy. Depending on the capacity you wants to operate on, half plot of
land is just good enough for average fish farm.
However,
you may go for something bigger like full plot or two if you can afford it
probably for convenience sake. If you already have a compound with leftover
space you thing can accommodate two or three ponds, you may use it.
2. Ponds –
You need to engage the service of
expert pond construction engineer or you go to another fish farm to get the
specification and construction requirements. The plumbing work must be properly
done to ensure proper drainage.
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| Pond showing fishes for building wealth in fish farming |
3. Borehole – Adequate water supply is the
lifeblood of fish farm and lack of it may result to disaster because water need
to be changed on regular interval. Naturally available sources of water such as
borehole and river water is the most suitable. Rain water and tap water from
chemically treated source is not recommended for fish cultivation.
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4.
Overhead Tank –
This is the water reservoir from which water is supplied to your ponds. This
tank has to be connected to your ponds through plumbing system to make it
convenient for water to flow into your ponds when needed.
5.
Juvenile Fish –
Get your juvenile from another farm that specializes in supplying it. You need
to go for the high yield specie of catfish or tilapia and make sure you are
getting it from a healthy farm.
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| Juvenile fishes for fish farming |
6. Get
Training –
Not the kind of training you get from one day seminars; you need to get attached to a fish farm for proper apprenticeship. For you to properly learn this trade, you need at least two months training on this.
Not the kind of training you get from one day seminars; you need to get attached to a fish farm for proper apprenticeship. For you to properly learn this trade, you need at least two months training on this.
Remember
that your investment is at stake, trial and error is not good in business
except you have unlimited funds to experiment with.
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Also read: How to build wealth in cattle farming - Beginner's guide
Rough Estimate for Fish
Farming
From
the template below I believe you will have a clear financial breakdown of the
capital and expenses involved for a start.
“Now,
this is an estimate for a catfish farm with capacity of 10,000 and fingerlings
of high breed catfish where to be stocked. The expenses from pond construction
to marketing is considered. The farm is to have 10 concrete ponds of flow
through system and each pond is to contains 1,000 stocked catfish.
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Pond construction cost:
Each
pond is 3m x 2.5m by 1.4m, each pond consumes 210 blocks and each bag of cement
for 30 blocks. Hence 210 x 10 = 2,100 blocks. 2,100/30 = 70 bags of cement
needed. 2000 x 70 = 140,000 naira.
4trips
of sand used =7,000×4 = N28,000
2trips
of gravel = 32,000x 2 = N64,00
Cost
of labour = N150,00
Cost
of plumbing (inlet and outlet facility) = N100,000.
Cost
of bore hole = N150,000.
Cost
of treatment = N50,000.
Cost
of high breed fingerlings 30×10,000 = N300,000.
Cost
of feeding from day one to maturity stage is 200 bags of foreign feed =
N1,000,000.
After
the average weight of the fish was 1.7kg. And it was sold at 800 naira each.
The output was 800×9800 fishes, due to 200 mortality. 800 x 9800 = N7,840,000.
Input
is N3.25’million. The profit is N4.59 million after six months of culture.”
Following this cost analysis, you can easily invest N3 million and expect a
massive turnover of N4 million with six months it will take for you to harvest
and sell.
Conclusively, there is no doubt that fish farming is very
lucrative and profitable business in Nigeria. You need to get it right by drawing
complete business plan and following it to the later. You need to apply good
management skills and follow the acceptable standard. If you do all these, you
are sure to make good profit from your fish farming business in Nigeria, Kenya,
Ghana, and South Africa.
You can use the comment box for more suggestions and contributions in building wealth fish farming . And do well to share to others.
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