Wealth creation through fingerling production.

Fingerling production in cat fish farming is an essential part of the farm operation because it is the seed needed for production.The Clarias gariepinus spp is the common cat fish reared in Nigeria because of its early maturity taste,and the fact that it has an accessory breathing organ hence can survive outside water for some hrs,this explains why its sold live in the open markets. The mature male and female brood stock are chosen and kept in separate tubs,one male can fertilize 10 females.The males are bigger and heavier than the females,weighing over 1kg is the ideal .The males must have well developed genitals that are reddish indicating maturity. The females to be used must be identified as good spawners,with a weight of 450-500g,and must be over 8months with dark golden green eggs. The females are usually injected with hormones,the eggs expressed and mixed with milt of the male catfish.The male catfish is killed to extract the milt while the female is returned to pond after eggs are expressed. There are various hormones used in stimulating ovulation in fish such as ova prim, human chorionic gonadotropin, crushed pituitary gland and a combination of motilium and suprefact. The materials needed for the spawning include; a glass trough or a bath tub with water inlet and outlet pipes, screen with stand, pumps,bowls and net covering to keep tank covered and dark.The method you intend to use will dictate materials you will put in place. The The money making potential is enormous and so many farmers are into hatchery business and smiling to the bank. Jane Waruinge, the proprietor of Jasa Fish Farm left America to set up an hatchery business. Jane only keeps a few mature fish for brooding, seeing as her venture mainly deals in fingerling,She shipped in the brooders, with her monosex tilapia coming mainly from UK, and the gold fish and catfish coming from Jambo Fish Farm in Kiambu. Her aquaculture farm now boasts of three types of fish fingerlings (tilapia, catfish and gold fish), with her specialty being in monosex male tilapia fingerlings.She pumped Sh3.5million into the development of her two plots, bought and erected the hatcheries, built the ponds and put up other numerous essential structures. The environment of the hatchery and ponds has to be kept at a constant temperature of 24-28 degrees centigrade and anything much lower or higher than that could prove disastrous to the fingerlings. More