Project Materials

GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF Clarias Gariepinus FED WITH COPPENS AT A FREQUENCY OF ONCE AND TWICE DAILY

Chapter One

Introduction

Aquaculture, the farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, molluscs, crustaceans, and aquatic plants, is required to supply Nigerians’ protein needs. Over time, fish production in Nigeria has increased significantly.

Despite the increased fish production, the expected result has not been achieved. Quantitatively, fish production in 2005 totalled 490,600 tonnes (FAO, 2003) from artisan fisheries, 56,300 tonnes from industry fisheries using trawlers, and 61,150 tonnes from imports.

Aquaculture practice has been identified as a potential alternative to meeting the growing demand for fish production, owing to the fact that the activities of artisans and industrial fisheries in our natural waters have resulted in overexploitation and degradation as a result of human activities in coastal waters.

Four production issues have been highlighted as necessary for aquaculture to reach its full potential. These are the issues of feeding the pond’s fish stock, managing the pond’s water supply, providing fish seeds, and constructing/establishing the pond.

The first two difficulties, fish nutrition and water quality control, have a mutual impact. The level of stock feeding impacts water quality, which in turn affects fish feeding performance in the pond (George, 2001).

Fish, like other creatures, require food to carry out their metabolic functions. Fish feeding in aquaculture can be supplemental or comprehensive. Supplemental feeding occurs when feeds are administered to the animal at a low level to supplement the natural food available for the fish in the pond water.

These natural foods take the form of phytoplankton and zooplankton. The term “complete feeding” refers to when the farmer provides all of the food fed to the fish. In any instance, the sort of feeding used is determined by the nature of the pond and the farmer’s productivity (Michael, 1987; Michael et al., 2005).

Catfish is the most common cultivated fish in Nigeria. It is naturally carnivorous, lives in bottom ponds, is particularly active at night, and is part of the Claridae family (Willian, 1967; Idoho-Umeh, 2003). However, fish domestication has destabilised and modified their feeding and activity patterns.

To this purpose, the feeding regime has become more diverse, but the general guideline is that feeding stock at the optimal level should be highly economical in order to save feed costs and provide total economic rationale.

According to Webster et al. (1992), rainbow trout can be fed three times per day, while catfish can be fed once or twice daily.

In any instance, the type of feeding done is determined by the nature of the pond and the type of output; the farmer’s climatic conditions and economic standing govern the feeding requirements.

Various studies on fish feeding have been conducted (Collins and Delmendo, 1979; Sena and Brain, 1992), but much more research is needed to determine the best time of day and frequency to feed catfish in order to achieve good growth performance that will justify the farmer’s high feeding cost.

Determining the optimal feeding frequency for the catfish is believed to aid maximise performance, prevent waste, and assure the enterprise’s success.

This will help to discourage the deterioration of water quality which may arise from the decomposition of feeds fed to the fish due to feeding at inappropriate time and frequency.

This in turn is expected to help to minimize fish mortality due to pond water quality deterioration. The Overall output of the stock will also be boosted (Norm, 2000).

As a result, there is a need to investigate the growth performance of Clarias Gariepinus fed once or twice daily in order to increase yield through better and faster growth for catfish production.

1.1 Aims and Objectives

The purpose of this study is to feed Clarias Gariepinus at various frequencies of once and twice day, with the following specific objective:

1. To determine which feeding frequency is more cost-effective when rearing Clarias gariepinus.

1.2 Justification.

This study is important to fish farmers since it is expected to raise awareness about the optimal feeding frequency for enhanced growth in Clarias Gariepinus culture.

It is also envisaged that aquaculturists will be able to identify the most cost-effective strategy for producing higher growth at various feeding frequencies in a short period.

Finally, the findings are likely to help commercial fish farmers make management decisions in the production of Clarias Gariepinus.