Are you ready for fish farming?

Many potential fish farmers ask questions on factors to consider when starting a fish farm and how profitable is fish farming? Several extension officers and consultants in fish farming give an outline on factors and things needed to develop a profitable fish farm.

Let us consider four steps to profitable aquaculture: learning, evaluating, planning, and testing.

1. Learning

Learning is a first step in developing a profitable fish farm. This include attending training, reading and visiting experienced fish farmers. It also involves hiring an experienced consultant to help you get started in fish farming.

2. Evaluating

Evaluate your resources — human and natural. Your genuine response to this question will help you to plan: Do you have the time, energy and financial resources to develop a fish farm? Do you have both land and water that can be used for fish farming? What equipment will you need to raise fish? Are there local markets for fish that you can supply?

3. Planning

Plan your aquacultural enterprise. Develop a business plan. Such a plan will help you to think through the operation. Look for potential pitfalls. What permits do you need to raise fish for sale? A business plan is essential if you hope to obtain outside financing for your enterprise.

4. Testing

Test your plan on a scale that you can afford. Are you able to grow fish on a small scale? What works? What doesn’t work? Build your business after you have worked out the problems in your plan and as you gain knowledge and skill as a fish farmer. Make sure you can grow and sell the fish before you invest large amounts of time and money on production.

Requisites

Land, water, capital, a market, and management skills are essential to successful fish farming. Knowledge of these requirements will help you to plan and develop your enterprise.

1. Land

Land for a fish farm must usually be improved before it can produce fish. Construction of fishponds, wells, work and storage buildings, and hatchery facilities, is usually necessary. Make sure that the land you want to develop does not have detrimental use restrictions. Wetlands designation or zoning and deed restrictions can make land difficult if not impossible to develop. Pesticides or other chemical residues on the land may make it unusable for aquaculture. To hold water, clay soils are necessary for fishpond development. Soil tests will help tell you if your land is suitable for fishpond construction.

2. Water

Water quality and quantity are critical. The water should be void of any chemicals harmful to fish.

The amount of water available will limit the size of the fish farm. At a minimum, you want enough water to drain and fill a fish production pond at least once a year, as well as the capability of replacing any water lost through leakage or evaporation.

3. Capital

Aquaculture is capital intensive. Financing is generally needed to construct ponds, raceways, wells, buildings, and other specialized fish production equipment. Feed handlebar costs are major variable expenditures in the production of fish. Aquaculture is a business! It requires good business planning!

4. Markets

To be successful, fish farmers must be proactive in the marketing of their products. Emphasis on careful handling, cleaning, processing, packaging, transport, and retail sales is important in order to develop your market.

Fish farmers must look to develop niche markets where they can sell limited quantities of high-value products. This will take time and determined efforts.

Develop answers to the following questions:

1. Who specifically is going to buy my fish?
2. Is there a market for fish that I can supply?
3. At what price can I sell my fish?
4. What is my market risk?
5. How do I plan to sell what I produce?
6. Why produce something if I cannot sell it?

5. Management Skills

A fish farm requires continuous proactive management. “Who would have thought?” is a question asked often after a fish kill. The ability to anticipate and prevent problems is essential to sound management. Aquaculture involves risk of crop loss due to oxygen depletion, winter kill, parasites, disease, predators, flooding, vandalism and more. A sound business plan and proactive management will help avoid problems.

In a recent survey, extension officers who work with fish farmers mentioned several things that were essential for success in aquaculture. Perhaps the most critical factor identified was the human resource. Do you have workers competent to manage your fish farm?

In the next article we shall be looking at profitability of fish farming. Feel free to ask questions!!

Author Bio:

John Chiseba Mwamba

Fish farming consultant at Innovative Farmers and Aquaculture Consultants Zambia Limited.