FISHERY (FISH FARMING) PART 2

Learning Objectives;

By the end of this chapter, the reader should be able to;

·         Define fishery

·         Classify fishes on the basis of habitat and morphology

·         State the uses of fish and fish products.

·         Identify methods of fishing.

INTRODUCTION

We have been exploring aspects of agricultural production on farm land. Perhaps we should also explore the aspect of agricultural production in farm water Aquaculture.

Aquaculture deals with the science and art of producing aquatic organisms (i.e. organisms that live in water) including plants and animals. However fishery is solely concerned with the cultivation and harvesting of aquatic food animals.

Fishery may be defined as an entity engaged in the breeding and or harvesting of fish. It is the aspect of agriculture that engages in raising and harvesting of water animals.

The term fishery will include all the activities involved in catching, raising, processing and marketing of fish and fish products. The term fish as used in this context of fisheries will refer to all useful aquatic animals to man and includes fin fishes (true fish), crustaceans, mollusks, and any other harvestable aquatic animals. A fishery may involve the capture of wild fishes, or the raising and harvesting of fishes through fish farming or aquaculture. In Nigeria, fishery is becoming increasingly important especially to people living around natural bodies of water such as rivers, streams, lakes and ponds. Important rivers in Nigeria include the River Niger and Benue systems, the Cross River systems and the neigbouring Lake Chad. Currently in Nigeria more farmers are beginning to discover the commercial value of fish and are venturing into fish farming.

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Terms associated with fishery

Aquaculture: the science and art of producing aquatic organisms.

Mariculture; cultivation or production of marine organisms.

Fish: refers to particular species of harvestable aquatic animals.

Fishes: refers to different species of fish

School: refers to different species of fish

School: refers to a group of fish

Fry: refers to young fish

Fingerlings: refers to newly hatched fish

Hatchery: a device where fish eggs are incubated and hatched

Fishing gears hackle: devices or tools used for harvesting fish

Fishing techniques: refer to various methods of utilizing fishing gears to various methods of utilizing fishing gears to catch fish

CLASSES OF FISH

Fishes can be classified based on the following;

a.        Habitat: this classification is based on the type of water a fish can be found and includes

i.                    Fresh water fishes: these are fish that live naturally in fresh waters. Fresh water contains very little or no salt and is exemplified by rivers, streams, ponds, springs, swamps, lakes etc. examples of fresh water fish include, Tilapia, trout, carp, mud fish, cat fish, perch and pike.

ii.                  Salt-water fish: these are fish that live naturally in salt waters. Salt waters consist of considerably large amount of salt which gives it a salty taste. Salt water includes seas and oceans. Example of salt water fishes are sharks, mackerel, tuna, eel, ray, herring, skates, salmon and croaker.

b.      Morphology: Morphology refers to the type of body structure or skeletal structure of an organism. Based on morphology, fish can be classified into;

i.                    Bony fish: these are fishes that possess bony skeletons. Examples include tilapia, mud fish, cod, mackerel, herring, salmon, carp, trout, petch, bass etc.

ii.                  Cartilaginous fishes: these are fishes whole skeletons are made of cartilage. Examples include shark, dolphin, dog fish, rays, skates etc.

c.       Other types of aquatic organisms;

Other useful aquatic organisms can be grouped under this class as follows

i.                    Shell fish; eg. Crabs, Prawns, lobsters, cray fish etc.

ii.                  Reptile; e.g. turtle, crocodile, alligator etc.

iii.                Mammals; e.g hippopotamus, whales etc.

Uses of fish and fish products

i.                    Food: fish and their products serve as a very important source of animal protein. They are very nutritious and can be prepared as delicacies of various forms. They contain many essential nutrients including vitamins and minerals.

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ii.                  Source of animal feed: fish by products can be processed into fish meals and can be used to supplement or supply animal feeds where they provide the protein requirements of the farm animal.

iii.                Source of income: fish and their products are important source of income since they generate money when sold. Fish farmers are therefore gainfully employed.

iv.                Medicine: fishes have medicinal value. Example cod liver oil which is a fish product, helps to maintain a healthy and functional heart. It also helps in the treatment of certain, heart and pulmonary diseases.

v.                  Raw materials for industries: Certain fish products such as skin from cartilaginous fish & and other aquatic organisms such as crocodile, make good rain materials for leather used in manufacturing leather clothings including belts, bags, shoes etc. also oysters contain pearls that can be used locally to produce beads and other forms of jewelries. Fish by-products can be used to produce fertilizers.

vi.                Sports/pleasure: Some people engage in fishing as a form of leisure activity or vacation exercise. Some people also raise fish (usually colourful small fishes) in aquariums for pleasure or aesthetics.

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Nutritional value of fish: fishes are an excellent source of animal protein. They contain little or no carbohydrates. There are nutrients in fish and other sea foods that rarely exist in other foods eg. Omega 3 fatty acids and vitamin E. all fish contains small amounts of vitamin B. They are also good sources of essential minerals such as magnesium, calcium, iodine and other important nutrients. Oily fish (e.g. salmon) provides vitamin A and D. White fish (e.g cod) is very good for low cholesterol diets. Shellfish (e.g. crab) are very nutritious and are rich in many essential minerals.

Fishes also have medicinal value.

Example cod liver oil helps to maintain a healthy and functional heart.

When fish are fresh or properly preserved, they are odourless and retain ther nutrients.

Methods of fishing

Fishing refers to the harvesting of fish. Fishes can be harvested in a fish farm, or in the open water such as rivers, streams, lakes seas and oceans. Harvesting of fish requires the use of fishing tools and application of fishing techniques to catch fish and bring it out of the water to dry land. Below are various methods of fishing.

i.                    Luring: This methods involves the use of baits (fish food e.g. worm) attached unto hooks to lure fishes. The hooks are inturn attached to strings which is held by the fisherman. When a fish takes the bait, the hook pierces it and the fisherman pulls the string together with the fish out of the water.

ii.                  Impaling or striking: This method involves the use of fishing tools such as spears and harpoons to strike a moving fish. This injures or impales the fish movement resulting to its subsequent catch and removal from water (landing).

iii.                Entrapment or snaring: this method involves the use of fishing traps or baskets to entrap fishes, after which they are brought to dry land.

iv.                Scooping: This involves the use of certain fishing nets such as hand or scoop nets, cast nets etc to catch fish by dipping them into the water and quickly removing it when fish enters inside it (usually detected by movement or weight of fish).

v.                  Encircling: This method involves the use of large fishing nets or other fishing gears and making a circular movement around a region until the fish in the region is trapped in the fishing gear which is then hauled into the fishing boat and brought to land. In the case where boat is not used, two or more individuals can hold the fishing net and move around a region of dense fish concentration. (See other methods of fishing in chapter 9 under fishing tools).

Activity 24.1: Activity on fishing.

Activity; The students should visit a nearby fish farm.

They should observe the following

·         How fish are reared.

·         Feeding of fish

·         Various types of fish

·         Various forms of fish products

·         Methods used in harvesting fish

·         The students should record their observations.

   







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AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS AND EXTENSION INTRODUCTION

  AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS AND EXTENSION INTRODUCTION

In the course of your training in Agriculture at both the Junior and Senior Secondary School levels, you have learnt about the basic technical and social factors involved in agricultural production. All these factors contribute towards increasing the farmer’s productivity.

In order to achieve higher levels of productivity, it is important to familiarize and educate our farmers with the improved technologies and methods of production. This can only be achieved through an efficient agricultural extension service. The adoption of improved production techniques leads to high productivity, with farmers producing more than they can consume (surplus). Hence, there is the need to provide outlets for farmers to profitably dispose of this surplus. Moreover, farmers  also need to sell their produce to enable them to purchase other items which they need hence, agricultural marketing is very central to agricultural production.

In this unit, therefore, we shall learn about the importance of agricultural extension and the methods of disseminating new technologies and ideas to farmers. We shall also learn about the importance of agricultural marketing, and the conduct of marketing through various agents and outlets.   

MARKETING OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE

A market is a place where buyers and sellers meet to exchange goods and services. Markets are necessary because people are not capable of producing all the things they require for their survival. Even in the olden days when money was not introduced as a medium of exchange, people exchanged goods by barter. The appearance of money facilitated greater exchange of products and modern telecommunications have succeeded in widening the scope of commodity exchange activities. Therefore, marketing is an integral part of the production process.

In this chapter, we shall discuss the meaning and importance of agricultural marketing and the functions of various marketing agents and channels. At the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

1.      State the meaning and importance of agricultural marketing;

2.      List the various marketing agents and market outlets in Nigeria; and

3.      State the advantages and disadvantages of the various marketing agents.

MEANING AND IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURAL MARKETING  

Agricultural marketing comprises all activities that take place from the point of production (farm gate) to the final consumer. These activities include transportation, grading, processing, storage, and the act of buying and selling. This simples that production in most cases will be useless without complementary marketing activities. The importance of marketing moreover increases with:

1.      Economic development;

2.      Separation of production areas from areas of consumption;

3.      The need for spreading the consumption of a range of products over time beyond immediate post production needs.

Contrary to popular belief, marketing is a productive activity because it provides items of useful value when, where, and in the form they are needed. If you transport a tone of cowpeas from Katsina to Lagos, you are performing a marketing service (i.e. location-utility). Also, if you store a bag of maize for a period of time to make it available later in the market when it is scarce –(i.e. time utility), and when you process groundnut to supply groundnut oil or cake, you are performing a market service termed form utility.

It is important to note that these utilities arise from marketing activities and as in the case of production, it also requires resources like land, labour, and capital. Therefore marketing is not costless.

MARKETING AGENTS

Given the number of functions that are contained under the umbrella of agricultural marketing, it is obvious that many people and institutions would be involved. There are transporters, warehouse owners, processors, and large/small scale buyers and sellers. These are found at various points as the products move from the farm to the final consumer. There are other marketing agents who are not so directly involved but are equally important. These are individuals and institutions that facilitate the activities of the marketing agents; they include bankers, financiers, insurers, advertisers, and the government. The latter is included because it establishes the rules and regulations under which marketing takes place.

As such, marketing agents may be private individuals, co-operatives, marketing boards, or companies, and so on. All these assume various functions within the marketing spectrum, wholesalers, middlemen, commercial agents, retailers processors, and transporters, etc.

One thing is clear, no matter what the circumstances are; marketing functions have to be performed by someone; therefore, there is the need to have an efficient and well integrated marketing system that rewards both the producers and marketing agents. The system must be capable of providing cheap and safe goods to the consumer.

PROBLEMS OF VARIOUS MARKETING AGENTS

Various marketing problems have often been associated with the operations or performance of the different marketing agents. Transporters for example, are being accused of hiking transportation costs thereby increasing the cost of the products. Warehouse owners have also been accused of hoarding.

Middlemen have been accused of cheating both the producer and the consumer. Before validating these charges however, it is important to take into account the costs they incur in performing their various functions and how far they have succeeded in meeting consumer demands. As such, the most important thing is to consider alternative arrangements that can reduce costs without compromising consumer satisfaction and conveniences.

Several attempts have been made to establish bodies which were believed to be capable of helping both the producers and consumers to escape from the unsavoury (unwholesome) activities of some of the marketing agents e.g. middlemen. In Nigeria, it took the form of the creation of various marketing boards, producer marketing co-operative societies, and encouraging individual producers to become their own marketing agents.

Most marketing boards in developing countries have concentrated their attention on export crops. In Nigeria, they are involved with food crops as well, e.g. Nigerian Grains Board. In general, marketing boards are given monopoly powers to procure, assemble, grade, pack, and transport a particular crop or set of crops for sale abroad or for local distribution. They are meant to give producers a guaranteed minimum price which serves as incentives for production increases. In Nigeria, this expectation did not materialize. In the colonial era, they generated huge trading profits which were not re-invested into agriculture. They failed to stabilize prices and offered farmers prices lower than the open market – this is one of the  reasons why they were scrapped recently.

The use of Co-operative Societies as marketing agents was made to counter-balance the activities of the other marketing agents who were believed rightly or wrongly to be exploiting the producers. The records of such co-operatives are also not satisfactory. Their operations have been hampered among other things by poor management, ignorance of commercial producers, and lack of proper leadership.

Producers as marketing agents:- producers can act as their own marketing agents and carry out all the functions that middlemen and other agents perform as well as receiving the rewards that the agents received. However, except for a very few large scale producers, most of them are not skilled enough and do not have the facilities to provide satisfactory marketing functions.  

Market outlets

Producers and other marketing agents usually sell agricultural products through marketing outlets. Some of these outlets with their characteristics and functions are outlined below:

1.      Local Markets:-involved in retailing, wholesaling, assembling, and packaging. They conduct direct buying and selling in open or built-up areas in a town, city or village designated as  a market.

2.      Supermarkets:- mainly in urban areas; involved in retailing and packaging.

3.      Processors:- these are industrial concerns involved in the processing of agricultural produce and selling of products and a range of by-products. Examples are Feed millers, Rice millers, Oil mills, Textile firms, and other agroallied industries.

4.       Public and private Institution:- using agricultural products for direct consumption, or as raw materials. Examples are schools, hospitals, companies, hotels, etc.

5.      World Market:- mainly for export crops consumed directly or as raw materials; to earn foreign exchange.

Summary

In this chapter, you have learnt that:

1.      Marketing is an integral part of the production process which involves activities such as transportation, grading, processing and the act of buying and selling of agricultural commodities from the point of production to the point of consumption.

2.      Marketing is a productive activity which provides useful services and adds value to agricultural commodities.

3.      There are various agents involved in the marketing process as commodities move from one point to the other.

4.      These agents might be private individuals, companies, marketing boards, or co-operatives, who perform various functions.

5.      Various problems arise as a result of the nature and performance of the marketing agents, leading to either scarcity or exhorbitant costs of goods and services.

6.      Attempts have been made to supplement the services of some of these agents by involving marketing boards, co-operatives, and producers, but this has not been very successful.

7.      There are also various market outlets for different agricultural commodities produced in Nigeria.