WHY YOU MAY SMOKE YOUR CATFISH #agriculture #business

After a client got the necessary training on catfish farming he made a costly mistake when executing; a mistake that many other catfish farmers make that is capable of plunging them into debt. 

The client called me with a shaky voice telling me that he had been feeding the fishes for 2 months plus and the growth rate was not commensurate with his input. When I got to the farm that morning as he was feeding, I noticed that he had bought fingerlings that were destined not to grow well. 

If not for my timely intervention he would have kept feeding them and administering whatever any tom dick and harry recommended. 

The Problem

He had not stocked his pond with shooters and no matter how much feed he administered, he would run at a loss. Even if he decided to stop feeding and sell, because non of them was up to 1kg, the buyers would want him to load the scale with as much fish as possible that can weight up to a kg and that is huge loss.

That is the experience of poorly trained farmers who will then believe that catfish farming is not profitable.

The Solution

We simply told him to stop feeding and smoke all the fishes because feeding them would be a waste of resources as they will not gain length and girth necessary to achieve minimum of a kg weight.

The Market

In summary, he sold the fishes to local restaurants, and market women who deal specifically on smoked fish. The local restaurants usually prepare their Banga, owho, bitter-leaf soup with this fish and these restaurant owners were glad to have a new supplier.

Profit Margin

In comparison to the original projection, he did not really do badly. One smoked fish costs an average of N250, while a live 1kg table size fish costs anything between N450 to N500. Since he stopped feeding in less than three months, he still recorded some good profit. Today, he produces only smoked fish. He stops feeding at 3 months and makes good profit from smoking them. 

Note: If you stocked fast growing shooters, whether you decided to sell fresh catfish weighting 1kg or you decided to smoke them at 3 months, you will still end up make huge profits.