FG plans database for fish production

… to boost research, improve fish production, protein intake

In its bid to know the types of fishes being bred in Nigeria, as different from species coming from other countries, the Federal Government is compiling a comprehensive list of fish farms across the country.

The compilation is to create a database and also enable the government know which farms are those fishes been bred. It will also allow government to monitor and stop indiscriminate breeding as well as to carry out organised research and improve fish production in the country, and increase protein intake for Nigerians.

The Registrar, National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB), Sunday Aladele, told BusinessDay that not much had been done in the past with respect to compilation and development of fish varieties indigenous to the country, as importation of foreign species had been the order of the day.

The decision to compile the list, he said, was taken at the 21st meeting of the National Committee on Naming, Registration and Release of Crop Varieties, Livestock Breeds and Fisheries coordinated by NACGRAB with Technical Sub-Committee (TSC) on Fisheries in Ibadan.

According to him, the TSC (Fisheries) agrees that once the developed descriptor format has been presented to the national committee and accepted, NACGRAB would approach the farmers and universities to come for registration of their fish strains.

The Registrar said cryopreservation techniques using the sperm of fish varieties would also be undertaken by the TSC (Fisheries) as a way of developing the fishery sector in the country.

He further explained that cryopreservation was a long-term storage technique usually done to preserve biological materials without such materials deteriorating for many years to come.

He said for now, the general descriptors format to be used in compiling varieties of local fishes in the country included species, name of fish, breed or strain, old name, and origin.

Aladele said, type of strain, type of habitat, name and address of developing organisations, name of developer/scientist and name of collaborators were other formats to be used.

He said others included fin counts, type of scale, body shape, mouth type, type of tail, molecular biology and genetics, culture requirements, growing period, amino acid profile, nutrient characteristics and year of release.