FISH SEED MULTIPLICATION HATCHERY CONSTRUCTION AND MANAGEMENT

N. Olapado

Abstract:

The successful culture, on a mass scale, of any plant or animal species is predicated on a reliable supply of seed, among other factors. Fry insufficiency is still the most serious problem handicapping the development of aquaculture. The successful spawning of gravid females (female with eggs) from the wild paved the way for mass production of fry. However, the disadvantages of high costs of securing the fry and seasonal availability of wild females remained. With the collection from the wild considerably dwindling down, efforts have to be made to replenish the stock. The widespread use of hypophysation techniques, since its first application in Brazil in 1935, has been in the inducements of spawning in fish that do nor ordinarily breed under conditions of confinements or do so only under specific environmental conditions. There has been an unprecedented demand for fish seed by private fish pond operators all over the continent within the past years. This great surge was heightened by the campaign for self-sufficiency in food and raw materials production. With the increasing public awareness of the profitability of fish farming, the demand for fish fingerlings has been increasing annually. This is likely to triple or increase by 2010 given the recent spate of interest in fish farming. With the current exponential increase in population, higher production is imperative.

(JNK International Limited, 4 Olofin Street, Apapa Lagos, Nigeria, e-mail: skjmarine@yahoo.com)

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