Journal des pêches et de l'aquaculture
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Profitability of Selected Ventures in Catfish Aquaculture in Ondo State, Nigeria

Thompson OA and Mafimisebi TE

The need to provide information to prospective investors on the decision to invest led to this study on profitability analysis of selected ventures in catfish aquaculture in Ondo State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 144 fish farmers rearing fingerlings, juveniles and table size (full) fish in the study area. The results of the analysis of socio-economic characteristics showed that the mean age of the three groups of farmers was about 35.0 years, while about 88.0%was maleand about 83.0% was married.All the respondents had western education while about 88.0% of farmers had tertiary education. Fish farming was a secondary occupation for about 61.0% of farmers while the mean farming experience was 6.3 years. The result of Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR) was 1.46 for fingerlings, 1.29 for juveniles and 1.26 for full fish. Profitability and efficiency ratio of 0.85 and 1.85, 0.71 and 1.71, and 0.55 and 1.55 were recorded for fingerlings, juveniles and full fish, respectively. Comparing these values indicated that fingerlings production is the most profitable catfish enterprise in the study area. It is recommended that governments at all levels explore the possibility of using the various ventures in catfish farming as a solution to the worrisome unemployment problem in Nigeria.