AQUACULTURE DEPENDENCY ON WILD SEED

In the Nkam Valley there is no shortage of catfish fingerlings. Clarias gariepinus is in high demand and current production from wild capture is sufficient for the existing extensive flood pond aquaculture system. Outside of the valley, however, catfish fingerling demand exceeds supply. With an annual aquaculture production estimated at 330 tonnes nationwide, this demand is close to 1 million fingerlings, which is beyond what is currently availability from the wild (Pouomogne, 2007b).

Although Clarias jaensis is the more fished of the two species, farmers prefer Clarias gariepinus for its faster growth rate. According to Santchou fishers, Clarias gariepinus has been accidentally introduced from upstream hatcheries into the lowland flood ponds where it was not previously found. Most of these hatcheries are now closed due to mismanagement. High transportation costs protect the catfish resources of the Santchou area from major fishing pressure resulting from high demand from outside the valley. Current export outside the valley is mainly due to subsided aquaculture projects (Table 4). In addition, private fingerling producers are constantly improving their ability to provide quality fish seed at more competitive prices. Some of the PFP sporadically demand broodstock caught from the wild to expand the genetic variability of their base material. These efforts are supported by the research of international (WorldFish Center, Centre de cooperation internationale en recherche agronomique pour le developpement – CIRAD) and national (IRAD) institutions (Nguenga and Pouomogne, 2006; Sulem et al., 2007; Brummett, 2007).

Within the valley, the current extensive production system in flood ponds is moving towards intensification and studies are needed to determine

TABLE 4
Estimated numbers and destination of catfish juveniles fished in Nkam Valley (2006)

1 Both Clarias gariepinus and Clarias jaensis.
Fokoue (Dschang) Santchou (Dschang) Bamenda
Kumba

the capability of the native species to sustain competition for food and habitat from introduced Clarias gariepinus. Currently, resource management of the catfish fingerlings remains sustainable with stocking of flood ponds being the major demand on the resource.
The introduced Clarias gariepinus, which is preferred over the native Clarias jaensis, is not heavily represented in the Nkam Valley recruitment. Unless Clarias jaensis becomes an interesting candidate for aquaculture, the limited availability of Clarias gariepinus seed in unlikely to support the growing aquaculture industry. Investigations on the potential of the local catfish species as a “police-fish” in tilapia pond culture are ongoing (Pouomogne and Mikolasek, 2007).
Access to the collection grounds for catfish fingerlings is governed by strict ethno sociologic property rights. All revenues from the fishery belong to the fisher and the family owning the fishing area. Investments essentially consist of tools and labour for preparing the fishing area, for collecting the fingerlings and for stocking and marketing the fish. This market chain is currently highly profitable when compared to the profit generated by private hatcheries (Table 5). Margins will decrease with new native fishers demanding access to the fishing grounds. In addition, since the target species (Clarias gariepinus) is available in limited amounts in the valley, hatchery-produced seed may not suffer much from competition with wild seed. In the meantime private fingerling producers continue their efforts to improve the quality/price ratio and availability of hatchery-produced catfish fingerlings (Sulem et al., 2006; Sulem et al., 2007).

TABLE 5
Economics of catfish fingerling collection in Santchou, Cameroon, in 2006

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FISH FEED

Catfish aquaculture producers in Cameroon do not depend on wild-caught feed. Weeds, household organic refuse and, to a lesser extent, agro-industrial by-products such as oilcakes, wheat and rice bran, etc., are generally used to feed the catfish. Single feed ingredients used to feed catfish fingerlings compete with other domestic animals, such as pigs and poultry. These feeds consist of wheat bran and miscellaneous oilcakes, which are mostly farm-made or, to a lesser extent, purchased (Pouomogne, 2007a).