Be wary of fake fish experts
MANY would-be fish farmers have abandoned the business after getting conned by unscrupulous people claiming to be fish experts. The con men, claiming to be fisheries officials or fish pond construction technicians, supply fake fish feeds, fingerlings or construct ponds that are either too small or t
MANY would-be fish farmers have abandoned the business after getting conned by unscrupulous people claiming to be fish experts. The con men, claiming to be fisheries officials or fish pond construction technicians, supply fake fish feeds, fingerlings or construct ponds that are either too small or too shallow to hold fish.
Before they engage anyone to help them to construct fish ponds, repair already existing fish ponds or construct hatcheries, fish farmers should establish whether the people they are dealing with are credible.
Farmers in Uganda are encouraged to take up fish farming as an alternative enterprise, since the fish stock from natural water bodies is no longer enough to meet the growing demand.
In spite of its potential, Ugandan farmers have been slow to take up the fish farming. Shortage of information about fish farming and lack of a steady source of inputs like fingerlings and fish feeds are some of the factors discouraging farmers from joining the lucrative business. At the moment, most commercial fish farmers are in central Uganda, probably attracted by relatively better infrastructure and a big market.
I have met a number of frustrated farmers who invested a lot of money in pond construction, only to discover later that what the “technicians†claimed to be standard ponds were fake.
There is a fish farmer in Bweyogerere who paid sh6m for a 2,000 square metres. pond. However, when we measured it, we discovered it was just 300 square metres!
Some farmers are given fake fingerlings. There is a farmer who paid a lot of money for fake fish that had been collected from streams and swamps. The farmer spent a lot of money feeding the fish, but they would not grow any bigger. In other cases, farmers have been sold fake fish feeds from places like Kisenyi. They are sold ordinary maize bran claiming its authentic fish feed. Fish cannot eat uncooked foods like maize bran.
So in order to avoid being cheated, farmers should make use of experts like district fisheries officers. Constructing a pond the wrong way will affect the fish’s rate of growth and, therefore, the final harvest.
How to do it right
A standard fish pond should be 30 by 50 metres. It should be located in an area that can retain water, but not a swamp that has a history of flooding. The key things to consider before selecting the site of a pond include the physical layout of the land, human activities around the area and the quality of water.
The land should have a gentle slope. And the soils must be loamy-clay to hold water while human activity, especially that which deposits residue around, should be restricted.
It may cost between sh1m to sh5m to dig a standard fish pond. However, with sh1m to sh2m, a farmer can use manual labour to construct the pond. From sh3m to sh5m, a farmer can use professionals.
The advantage of hiring professionals is that the job will be done right. A professional will do the clearing of the site, excavate the pond, construct the drainage systems, lime the fish pond, fertilise it and train care takers, plus monitor the project for a period of three months.
Cage fish farming
This is an enclosure made out of a strong net suspended or fixed in water. The size at which fish is placed in the cage depends on the size of the wire meshes.
For small fish, smaller meshes are required to stop the fish from escaping. The advantage of this system is that fish grows faster in cages compared to ponds.
It takes between four to seven months to raise a kilo from each Tilapia in cages, which cannot be achieved in fish ponds. Cages are normally made in sizes of 1m x1mx 2m. It can go to around 16m. The cost of constructing a cage is about sh0.9m. A small cage can stock up to 2,500 fingerlings while a large one can take up to 8,000 fingerlings.
Feeding
Feeding fish is one of the most difficult and often frustrating activity for fish farmers. In most cases, farmers overfeed their fish and end up making a loss. In other instances, they underfeed the fish, thus affecting their growth rate.
Ideal fish feed must have protein for body building, fat for normal functioning of the body and energy, carbohydrates for energy, minerals for bone structure and body functions and vitamins for good health. All these nutrients can be obtained from locally available foods.
Fish feed on 5% of their body weight for the first month, 4% for the second month, 3% for the third and fourth and then 2 to 3% for the rest. Fingerlings weigh approximately eight grammes at the time of pond stocking.
The best formula to determine feeding rates is multiplying the number of fingerlings in the ponds with their weight, then taking 5% of that weight as the feeds to be given to the fish. The feeds are then divided into three for each day. The first feeding should be done at 9:00am, the second at 1:00pm and the third at 4:00pm.
At the moment, the cost of feeds is sh950 per kilo for ordinary fish seeds. Special feeds, including those that float from Ugachick, however, cost sh1,600 per kilo. In the long run, floating feeds may be the best.
Turn-over
At the end of six to eight months, fish should be weighing approximately two kilos for cat fish and 500g for tilapia. Overall weight, however, depends on the feeding, the pond size, water quality etc.
There is a good market for fish at the moment. For example the average cost of a kilo of tilapia is sh7, 000 in Kampala. There is a bigger market for tilapia than cat fish though. The winning formula in fish growing is to use experts all the time. They should avoid cheap, but less knowledgeable people because in the long run, they only incur losses.
Georwell Emanu is a director Geossy Company Limited
Before they engage anyone to help them to construct fish ponds, repair already existing fish ponds or construct hatcheries, fish farmers should establish whether the people they are dealing with are credible.
Farmers in Uganda are encouraged to take up fish farming as an alternative enterprise, since the fish stock from natural water bodies is no longer enough to meet the growing demand.
In spite of its potential, Ugandan farmers have been slow to take up the fish farming. Shortage of information about fish farming and lack of a steady source of inputs like fingerlings and fish feeds are some of the factors discouraging farmers from joining the lucrative business. At the moment, most commercial fish farmers are in central Uganda, probably attracted by relatively better infrastructure and a big market.
I have met a number of frustrated farmers who invested a lot of money in pond construction, only to discover later that what the “technicians†claimed to be standard ponds were fake.
There is a fish farmer in Bweyogerere who paid sh6m for a 2,000 square metres. pond. However, when we measured it, we discovered it was just 300 square metres!
Some farmers are given fake fingerlings. There is a farmer who paid a lot of money for fake fish that had been collected from streams and swamps. The farmer spent a lot of money feeding the fish, but they would not grow any bigger. In other cases, farmers have been sold fake fish feeds from places like Kisenyi. They are sold ordinary maize bran claiming its authentic fish feed. Fish cannot eat uncooked foods like maize bran.
So in order to avoid being cheated, farmers should make use of experts like district fisheries officers. Constructing a pond the wrong way will affect the fish’s rate of growth and, therefore, the final harvest.
How to do it right
A standard fish pond should be 30 by 50 metres. It should be located in an area that can retain water, but not a swamp that has a history of flooding. The key things to consider before selecting the site of a pond include the physical layout of the land, human activities around the area and the quality of water.
The land should have a gentle slope. And the soils must be loamy-clay to hold water while human activity, especially that which deposits residue around, should be restricted.
It may cost between sh1m to sh5m to dig a standard fish pond. However, with sh1m to sh2m, a farmer can use manual labour to construct the pond. From sh3m to sh5m, a farmer can use professionals.
The advantage of hiring professionals is that the job will be done right. A professional will do the clearing of the site, excavate the pond, construct the drainage systems, lime the fish pond, fertilise it and train care takers, plus monitor the project for a period of three months.
Cage fish farming
This is an enclosure made out of a strong net suspended or fixed in water. The size at which fish is placed in the cage depends on the size of the wire meshes.
For small fish, smaller meshes are required to stop the fish from escaping. The advantage of this system is that fish grows faster in cages compared to ponds.
It takes between four to seven months to raise a kilo from each Tilapia in cages, which cannot be achieved in fish ponds. Cages are normally made in sizes of 1m x1mx 2m. It can go to around 16m. The cost of constructing a cage is about sh0.9m. A small cage can stock up to 2,500 fingerlings while a large one can take up to 8,000 fingerlings.
Feeding
Feeding fish is one of the most difficult and often frustrating activity for fish farmers. In most cases, farmers overfeed their fish and end up making a loss. In other instances, they underfeed the fish, thus affecting their growth rate.
Ideal fish feed must have protein for body building, fat for normal functioning of the body and energy, carbohydrates for energy, minerals for bone structure and body functions and vitamins for good health. All these nutrients can be obtained from locally available foods.
Fish feed on 5% of their body weight for the first month, 4% for the second month, 3% for the third and fourth and then 2 to 3% for the rest. Fingerlings weigh approximately eight grammes at the time of pond stocking.
The best formula to determine feeding rates is multiplying the number of fingerlings in the ponds with their weight, then taking 5% of that weight as the feeds to be given to the fish. The feeds are then divided into three for each day. The first feeding should be done at 9:00am, the second at 1:00pm and the third at 4:00pm.
At the moment, the cost of feeds is sh950 per kilo for ordinary fish seeds. Special feeds, including those that float from Ugachick, however, cost sh1,600 per kilo. In the long run, floating feeds may be the best.
Turn-over
At the end of six to eight months, fish should be weighing approximately two kilos for cat fish and 500g for tilapia. Overall weight, however, depends on the feeding, the pond size, water quality etc.
There is a good market for fish at the moment. For example the average cost of a kilo of tilapia is sh7, 000 in Kampala. There is a bigger market for tilapia than cat fish though. The winning formula in fish growing is to use experts all the time. They should avoid cheap, but less knowledgeable people because in the long run, they only incur losses.
Georwell Emanu is a director Geossy Company Limited