International Journal of
Fisheries and Aquaculture

  • Abbreviation: Int. J. Fish. Aquac.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 2006-9839
  • DOI: 10.5897/IJFA
  • Start Year: 2010
  • Published Articles: 228

Full Length Research Paper

Socio-economic characteristics of small-scale catfish farming enterprise in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Rivers State, Nigeria

AMACHREE Dokuboba
  • AMACHREE Dokuboba
  • Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Environment, Faculty of Agriculture, Rivers State University, Nkpolu-Oroworukwo, P. M. B. 5080, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.
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JAMABO Nene
  • JAMABO Nene
  • Department of Fisheries, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Port Harcourt, Choba, Rivers State, Nigeria.
  • Google Scholar
JOSEPH Dorah E.
  • JOSEPH Dorah E.
  • Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Environment, Faculty of Agriculture, Rivers State University, Nkpolu-Oroworukwo, P. M. B. 5080, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.
  • Google Scholar


  •  Received: 17 July 2018
  •  Accepted: 06 February 2019
  •  Published: 31 March 2019

Abstract

The study of the socio-economic characteristics of any group is a requirement to a successful implementation of effective government assisted programme. The study examined the socio-economic characteristics, production processes and production constraints of small-scale catfish fishing enterprises in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area in Rivers State, Nigeria. Simple randomized sampling technique was used to select 60 small-scale catfish farming enterprises. Structure questionnaires were used to collect primary data from the respondents. The collected information were analyzed using simple descriptive statistics. The results showed that majority of the farmers were females (58%), married (74%), within the age group (31-40 years), Christians (92%), Igbo tribe (22%), and had university degree (58%) with household size (6-10). Majority have fish farming as primary occupation (32%), 1-5 years of experience, non-members of association (83%) and chose fish farming for profit maximization (50%). Based on this study, different aquaculture production systems were identified at the study area such as concrete tanks (34%), plastics tanks (20%), concrete+plastic (20%), earthen ponds (12%), earthen+concrete (8%), and earthen+plastics (6%). Respondents purchased land (66%), kept record (52%), used imported feed (52%), flow-through techniques (88%), monoculture as culture system (66%), stocked Clarias gariepinus (88%), bore-hole as water source (96%), procured fingerlings from private farms (84%) and personal savings as source of funding (86%). Some of the constraints like lack of extension service (76%), disease outbreak (52%), lack of capital (44%), lack of electricity (38%), preservation and processing (18%), lack of skilled human labour (10%), and lack of government assisted programmes (0%) were faced. In conclusion, catfish farming promises to improve in the area if there is adequate government assistance.

Key words: Catfish, Clarias gariepinus, production constraints, production processes, small-scale.