Fish Farming: Introduction to Catfish Farming

Why you should give catfish cultivation a try! 

 Depending on the motive behind going into fish farming which may be:

1. Rearing of fish to have enough proteinous fish to eat

2. Fish domestication in commercial farms to generate more revenue for the farmers.

   Before we dive into suitable fish for fish farm farming in Nigeria, there are hundreds of species of fish available for farmers. But not all are suitable for rearing profitable and commercially. they are:

•  Common carp  • Sea trout  •  Pangas catfish • Bighead carp •Silver seabream •  Nile tilapia •Greasy grouper • Grass carp, to mention but few.

     As earlier said, not all fish can be reared commercially because fish is sold in weight. Therefore, fish to be selected for rearing must be able to attain high weight within a short period of time to be profitable.

   The two most commonly cultivated fish species in Nigeria are:

✔  Catfish

✔  Tilapia

Why Catfish Farming in Nigeria?

Catfish - "Clarias gariepinus" is the most cultivated fish species in Nigeria. The reason is that it is one of the easiest species that can be rear either in captivity or in the wild. It is the choice of fish farmers because of its high adaptability.

There are many species of catfish:

1.  The African sharptooth catfish – Clarias gariepinus (Claridae Family) largely cultivated in Nigeria.

Others are

• The hybrid of Clarias X Heterobranchus
• Heterobranchus longifilis
• The clarias nigrodigitatus
• Heterobranchus bidorsalis

Please, do not be discouraged by the botanical name. To simplify it, to make this fish more profitable, research is carried out by cross-breeding. Crossbreeding catered for weakness in one species. For example, Heteroclarias resulted from the cross-breeding of Clarias gariepinus and Heterobranchus longifilis.

If you are you curious to know the advantages of different catfish species? Read on.

• Clarias Gariepinus: Clarias gariepinus grows and matures faster. It can attain

Desire weight between from 4 to 5 months than heterobranchus that is why it is called an early shooter. 

                Strength                               

• It is early shooters. It grows faster and matured faster than heterobranchus.
• Attained desired weight earlier                 
• Maturity ranges from 4-5 months

                      Weakness

• Clarias is however more susceptible to diseases
• Less Hardy than heterobranchus

2. Heterobranchus Longifilis: This species of catfish is sturdier, less resistant to disease, and very hardy. The weakness of heterobranchus longifilis is however grows at a slower rate and takes a longer time to reach maturity. The fish however can attain greater weight than clarias. It is worthy to state that heterobranchus longifilis begins to grow at a rapid rate after 4 to 5 months and would weigh more than clarias of the same age.

     Heterobranchus Longifilis Strength                                                      

•  Sturdier and hardy                                     
•  Can attain higher weight than clarias
• Rapid growth starts from 4 to 5 months and will attain a higher weight than clarias        

      Weakness

• Less resistant to disease
• It grows at a slower rate

Note: The fast-growing (early shooter) of clarias with less susceptible to disease heterobranchus longifilis coupled with attaining higher weight leads to crossbreeding. Combining the variation in these two fish species will give the farmers desirable trait – hence Hetero Clarias (Hybrid)

CLARIS GARIEPINUS x HETEROBRANCHUS LONGIFILIS = HETERO CLARIAS

3.Heteroclarias hybrid: Heteroclarias spp fish combines the fast growth rate and higher weight trait of heterobranchus longifilis and early maturity traits of clarias gariepinus.

Benefits of Cultivating Heteroclarias SPP

(1)  They gain higher at maturity than pure Clarias.

(2) They are very rugged with high resistance to diseases.

(3) They consume less feed when compared to pure clarias.

(4) They gain higher weight at harvest.

(5) They can survive on a plant protein-based fish feed.

(6) Post-harvest loss is less.

(7). It tastes better

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