Rotten fish served as ‘point and kill’ in Lagos restaurants

DESPITE increasing financial support being given to the agricultural sector, including fish farming, by the Federal Government, fish farmers in Lagos State have been complaining about a lot of challenges, particularly high cost of feeds.

Apart from the fact that fish farmers in the state are struggling due to an astronomical increase in prices of fish feeds, they are struggling with activities of unscrupulous fish sellers.

Investigation by Saturday Tribune has shown that it is not all the fishes that are being sold by the riverside in Lagos that were caught from the lagoon. Some of them were actually dead fishes brought in from a far distance.

An experienced catfish farmer, Mr Ikechukwu Ndukwe, told Saturday Tribune recently that he would not advise anyone to venture into catfish farming because of the activities of fish sellers in Lagos. The reason behind his advice was that he has never made a profit in all his years as a catfish farmer.

According to him, he experienced high blood pressure whenever he wants to sell his fish due to fear of experiencing another disappointment. Despite the fact that he owns the ponds and expects to gain if he sells mature catfish, he does not want any of his relatives to go through the same negative experience he has had.

“Do you know that retailers come to my farm, buy a big fish that weighs half a kilogram (kg) at the cost of N500 each and when they return to their restaurant where it is called “point and kill”, it sells for N1,500. The smaller ones bought for N200 or N300 go for between N800 and N1,300, depending on size”, he said.

Ndukwe explained that most times, he finds a lot of dead fishes in the pond and the retailers would want to take them for free, claiming that customers only buy live ones. They would insist on taking them for free and if they must pay, they do not want to part with anything more than N100 or N200, forgetting that “we buy feeds for the fishes”.

However, he noted that “we later found out that they cook it in advance waiting for customers who prefer already cooked fish parts, especially when they cannot afford a full ‘point and kill’”.

The experience of Abiodun Eniola, another catfish farmer, is a bit different. He believes that catfish farming is one of the most lucrative businesses around if only one understands the secrets.

“As far as I am concerned, I can never neglect this magnificent farming activity. Sit back and relax as we expose the secrets of millionaire catfish farmers,” he stated.

According to him, one thing he has learnt over time about those he termed millionaire catfish farmers is their ability to project and forecast into the future of their business. Eniola, the CEO of Keen International, said greed always makes never-do-well farmers to stock the number of fishes they will not be able to cater for, but millionaire farmers always plan their budget according to the available resources.

“It is one thing to produce and it is another major thing to market what is produced. Millionaire catfish farmers will not just stop at the point of production but also work to get better market for their produce. Marketing in catfish farming goes beyond selling of one’s produce (table-sized fish); it involves meeting competitive buyers and selling to buyers with better conditions which may include pricing, sizing and payment option.”

Millionaire catfish farmers, according to Eniola, know how to grow their business steadily and will never depend on just retailers or on promises made by government or any close associate.

“In Nigeria of today, it costs nothing less than N500 (about $2) to raise a juvenile catfish to a table size of at least 1.4kg. A diligent farmer will take his time to calculate the quantity to stock based on the reality of his pocket and other resources he can lay his hands on in order not to fail at the end of the business season”, he said.

Eniola said those who are profiting in catfish farming work season in, season out. He said they have developed their passion for the business and cannot do without visiting their farms or send trusted hands on a daily basis. This set of people understands the dynamism of their business.

He opined that at times, they may have to go to farm early morning to feed their fishes. They have deeper understanding of season and can adjust their schedule to suit their business. They will never rest until they make the feed ready for their catfish.

At every market point where fish feed or inputs are sold, Eniola said there is always a general price and bargained price. Farmers, according to him, should know how to bypass the general price to get through their bargaining ability. In feed mills, an average feed miller may add as much as N20 on a unit of input, causing the total cost to skyrocket. In order to cut the cost, farmers are ready to buy in bulk for a particular farming season.

For instance, he narrated that a unit of maize (i.e. 1kg) costs as much as N100 at the feed mill but it can be bought for as low as N56 when a farmer buys up to one ton. As such, a millionaire catfish farmer is able to save up to N44 on a unit of maize and N88,000 on a ton.

He also explained that for some farmers with personal feed mill, getting cheaper ingredients from their supplier without compromising the quality is not difficult. They hardly buy on credit so as to get more reduced price.

According to Eniola, many catfish farmers in Lagos fail because of their little knowledge of the business. Learning from successful individual farmers could be the major way to a remarkable breakthrough in the business of catfish farming.