No abstract

This paper appraises the market performance of farm – raised catfish (Clarias gariepinus) in the South-Western Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed in the capital cities of the six States in South – Western Nigeria due to their level of catfish consumption by random selection of 80 Catfish Wholesalers (CW) and 155 Catfish Retailers (CR) from the fish markets in the States. Two sets of structured questionnaires were administered on wholesalers and retailers. To evaluate market performance, marketing margins and marketing efficiency were calculated for the wholesalers and retailers. The results showed that transportation costs were 26.65% and 17.50% for wholesalers and retailers respectively, this represented higher percentage in the total marketing costs for each trader. The retailers had higher marketing margin (N85.10/kg) than wholesalers (N69.60/kg). Retailers had higher marketing efficiency of 221.90% than wholesalers (178.23%). High positive gross and profit margin obtained at both levels implied that the sellers were able to cover both their variable and fixed costs. Farm – raised catfish (Clarias gariepinus) marketing was found to be efficient at both scales of operations. It therefore recommended that there is need to improve all the road networks to reduce transportation cost, and credit facilities should be provided for the traders to expand the scale of their operation for higher profits to improve their livelihood.Keywords: Fish marketing, Clarias gariepinus, marketing margin, market efficiency

In fish farming, nutrition and haematology are critical. The former accounts for 70% production cost and the later determines an excellent health status of fish. Feeding trials were conducted in the laboratory for 12 weeks to evaluate the growth performance and haematological parameters of Clarias gariepinus fed varying levels of Chrysophyllum albidum seed meal (ASASM) as a replacement for maize in diets. The experimental diets were prepared using 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% C. albidum seed meal to replace maize. The initial weight of the test organism was 28.6 g stocked in rectangular white plastic with 3 replicates for each treatment. The fish juveniles were fed at 5% body weight. In this study, growth performance, feed utilization and haematological parameters were determined. The mean weight gain (MWG), specific growth rate (SGR) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were significant across the treatments following the direct relationship to inclusion levels (p<0.05). Protein efficiency ratio (PER) and total fish production were all significantly different across the diets (p<0.05). The reductions in PCV and other primary haematological variables (HB, RBC and TWBC) were significant at p<0.05 as the level of inclusion increased. The blood variables showed that the haematopoiesis of the test organism was positively influenced by ASASM; thus impairing blood production. The increase incorporation of African star apple seed meal (ASASM) was stressful to the experimental fish. There is need to further study the phytochemical factors and trials for suitable processing method to justify the targeted economic gains without compromising the health status. Key word: Red blood cell, experimental diets, catfish, feed ingredients, African star apple seed meal (ASASM).

Nothing is more important than quality nutrition and adequate feeding of fish in captivity. Undernourished fish in terms of nutrient deficiency, cannot maintain its health for proportionate growth regardless the intense of feeding and quality of the environment. A 49 day-feeding trial was carried out to investigate nutritional quality differential, growth and economics efficiency of some sampled commercially extruded floating feeds, based on frequency of usage among fish farmers in the study area. The sample feeds were sourced from respective distributors covering the zone of study. The feeds were designated as Fd1, Fd2, Fd3, Fd4, Fd5 and Fd6(control), with 3 replicates for each treatment. The examined growth performance, feed utilization and economic efficiency of feeds followed particular trend pattern and significantly different (p<0.05) across the sampled feeds (FW, MWG, SGR, TPI, PER and FCR). Finally, the control diet was least consumed, sustained positive allometry growth pattern  and concomitant marginal profits; than feed 1 and 2 which had sharp drops in the growth pattern of fish after four( 4) weeks.

This study evaluated the carcass quality of West African (WAD) goats fed shea butter nut meal (SBNM). In the sixteen-week nutrition trial, twenty WAD goats aged 5 - 7 months were allotted to five treatments in a completely randomized design. Four concentrate diets were compounded with the inclusion of SBNM at 0, 25, 50 and 100% graded levels. The proximate components of SBNM and the experimental diets were determined. At the end of the feedingtrial, two goats were randomly selected for slaughtering from each treatment to estimate the carcass quality. The proximate components of SBNM consist of 86.56% dry matter, 12.47% crude protein, 1.01%% crude fibre, 28.95%, 0.09% ash and 55.96% nitrogen free extract. The DM content of all the experimental diets was relatively similar in this study. The CP value of 100%SBNM was highest followed by 0%SBNM, 25%SBNM and 50%SBNM. The CF of 25%SBNM diet was higher than the other diets while the EE values were similar across all the diets. There were no significant differences among the mean of the carcass qualities of WAD goats. It could be concluded from this study that inclusion of SBNM in the diet of WAD had no deleterious effect on carcass qualities.