1.

1 INTRODUCTION
The practise of fish culture is very old. Huet (1972)
traced the art of fish culture in ponds to the Egyptians, the
Romans, the people of Indo-pacific regions, and the
Chinese. The first written account of fish culture in ponds
was by Fan Lai, a Chinese fish farmer in 475 Bc (Chackroff
1976).
However the first trace of fish farming in Nigeria, was
practise by some missionaries in the early 1920s in Ilora,
Oyo state, where fish was raise to supplement the protein
intake of pregnant women. Fish culture principally is to
produce quality fish food for human consumption. It is also
to enhance culture based fishery by providing enough
fingerlings for re-stocking open water like natural and
artificial lakes, reservoirs and running stream in order to
prevent the extinction of commercially when and where
there is over exploitation. According to Kent (1984) fish is
a rich source of amino acid, vitamins, minerals and polyunsaturated fatty acids not found in other sources of
protein. In the addition, farming of fish offers some
advantages order than farming domesticated land
animals.
One of the characters is the ability of many species of fish
to convert organic wastes such as sewage, piggery
wastes, poultry wastes, cow dung and other organic
industrial by products into usage production efficiency.
Some of the benefits of fish farming are that swampy area
which is unsuitable for agricultural are easily utilized in
pond construction, more importantly however, is the fact
that protein production per unit area is far higher in fish
culture than beef.
Fish farming helps in reducing rural-urban migration. On a
national level, it can serve as a source of foreign
exchange. It provides employment opportunities, people in
the aspect of production processing and marketing which

provides income and thereby improves the living standard

of people (Eyo, 2004). While in Jalingo, Taraba state of
Nigeria fisheries resources are of diverse nature but
mostly of species endogenous to the Benue basin.
According to feasibility study for bankable fisheries
enterprises in Taraba state carried out by AquaGric
LTD(may, 2008) reveal that, as of 2004 in a survey, lakes
and reservoirs of size ranging 1-100 hectares were eightythree(83) in number and with estimated size of 4,018
hectares of water surface. In the same survey eight (8)
fish farm were recorded in the state with an estimated
2.8159 hectares of water surface. The survey also
recorded the figure of fish produced from erstwhile
Gongola state as recorded by the Federal Department of
Fisheries between 1990-1991 estimated over 162,000
metric tonnes to be the states contribution to the total
artisanal fish production from the North-Eastern part of the
country which was estimated at over 710,000 metric
tonnes. The survey also stated that accurate figures of fish
demand and production of Taraba state are not available
but there is high demand for fish in the state.
Faturoti (1999) noted that, recent trends all over the world
point to the decline in landing from capture fisheries which
is an indicator that fish stocks have approached or even
exceeded the point of Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY).
Aquaculture therefore remains the only viable alternative
for increasing fish production in order to meet the protein
need of the people in the state. Taraba state is blessed
with suitable land where both fresh water and aquaculture
species can be cultured. B.O. Omitoyin(2007) Reported the
general prospect of aquaculture not only in alleviating
under-nutrition and poverty but as a source of foreign
exchange for the state.
Aquaculture can also provide a viable socio-economic
alternative to capture fisheries. Aquaculture can be

operated as either on a small scale low-cost, utilizing

family labour or at high cost under intensive operation.
However, aquaculture is view as opportunities for both the
poor and the rich to improve their standard of living apart
from providing employment opportunities. In spite of the
potential of Aquaculture, there are lots of problems
militating against its development in Jalingo viz;
Poor quality fish seed: Many states of the federation
lack functional fish hatcheries where farmers can
purchase fingerlings to stock their farms. Farmers have
to travel long distance to source for fingerlings or
collect from the open waters. B .O. Omotoyin(2007)
reports that even where there are hatcheries, in some
cases, fingerlings are of poor genetic quality are
produced for farmers to grow. Some hatcheries sell
advanced fry as fingerling. This has resulted in stunted
growth of fish, poor survival rate, and poor returns on
investment. Aquaculture is yet to fully exploit the
potential of genetics in improving fish seed in Taraba
state. As at today, Taraba state has no standard
hatcheries despite the state of College of Agriculture.
Lack of cost effective fish feed: Although there have been
a lot of research work on production of fish feed to meet
the nutrient requirement of culturable fish in Nigerian.
(Faturoti and Akinbote 1986, Falaye 1988, Ayinla 1988,
and Falaye 1998); good quality fish feed pellets are still
sparingly used by fish farmers. This is due to high cost of
most fish feed ingredients particularly fish meal and its
competitive use by live-stock farmers. There are also few
commercial fish feed producers in Nigeria, a lot of
farmers depend on imported quality fish feeds which are
expensive and not affordable. This increases their cost of
production and reduces their profit margin.
Lack of capital: Many fish farmers lack adequate
capital to either operate their farm s profitably or

expand them. The situation is made of more difficult

by the unwillingness of financial institutions to grant
loans to the farmers. When loans are given, it is
usually at high interest rates. The numbers of the
operational fish farms in the state has reduced
significantly as a result of lack of capital and the
expected fish yield is affected in the long run.
Marketing of Aquaculture products: marketing of
aquaculture products is becoming problem in the
state. This is not because the supply is in excess of
demand but because of uncoordinated marketing
programmes. Many farmers sell their fish in fresh form
to middle-men at very low prices.
1.2

Statement of the Problem

There has been a phenomenal increase in fish farming as
an alternative source of protein requirement to the people
of jalingo, Taraba state. Fish farmer depends on imported
feeds which is very expensive and not affordable which
reduces their profit margin and increases their cost of
production.

1.3 Objectives of the study

I. To find out the potential of fish farming.
ii. To examine the problems faced by fish farmers
iii. To assess the prospect of fish farming in the study area
iv. To proffer solution to the identified problems.
1.4 Research question
I. what are the potential of fish farming?
ii. What are the problems faced by fish farmers?
iii. What necessary solution should be proffered to the
identified problems?
1.5

Research hypothesis

The use of imported feeds by fish farmers in Taraba state

has effect on the cost of fish.
1.6 Significance of the Study
At the end of the study the result obtained here will form a
base line for
the farmers by adding to their existing
knowledge of fish farming in the study area.
1.7

Scope of the Study

The study is on the problems and prospects of fish farming
and is restricted to Jalingo local government area of
Taraba state.