1. Catfish farming: a sustainability study at Eriwe fish farming village in southwest Nigeria
- Author
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Isaac Sarfo, Muhammad Arifur Rahman, Olumide Samuel Olowe, George Darko, and Ewumi Azeez Folorunso
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,business.industry ,010604 marine biology & hydrobiology ,Fish farming ,04 agricultural and veterinary sciences ,Aquatic Science ,01 natural sciences ,Gross margin ,Agricultural science ,Geography ,Aquaculture ,Aquaculture of catfish ,Annual percentage rate ,Net income ,Sustainability ,040102 fisheries ,0401 agriculture, forestry, and fisheries ,business ,Agronomy and Crop Science ,Catfish - Abstract
Global inland aquaculture continues to grow rapidly at an annual rate of 5.8%, increasing competition for other land use thereby generating sustainability concerns. Nigeria is the largest producer of African catfish, yet species-level information is completely scanty in relation to encompassing nature of environmental, social and economic values. In this study, a field survey exercise of the operations, systems and yield of Eriwe fish farm village was conducted with 74 fish farm cooperatives. The present study sought to establish the sustainability status of catfish farming in the region using proposed indicators in the existing literature. Findings revealed catfish farming in the village is economically sustainable with an annual gross margin of $44,539 and $25,868, coupled with a net income of $44,386 and $25,728 for intensive and semi-intensive systems respectively. This was further established with net present value (NPV) of $10,279 and $8323 and benefit-cost ratio (BCR) of 2.16 and 2.35 for both systems respectively. Both systems were found to have low labour remuneration < 0.50, which are below the recommended standard of 1. Environmental sustainability indicators revealed 100% of farmers discharged untreated wastewater directly into the river. All catfish farmers in the village contributed to the annual upgrade of road networks and security assurance. Through this study, it was revealed catfish farming is economically sustainable in the region. However, the influence of catfish farming practices on the social factors and ecological values have been given little or no attention.
- Published
- 2021
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