Sustainable Fish Production in Africa

Fish farming is today considered an important source of production for meeting world’s increasing demand for protein. Fish is an important source of good quality protein required in human diet. It has the highest level of easily metabolisable high quality protein, fats, vitamins, calcium, iron and essential amino acids when compared with other sources of animal protein such as poultry and beef. Fish consumption is highly relished among people of all classes and ages in that the fish is less tough and more digestible when compared to beef, mutton chicken and bush meat. This is due to the greater ratio of muscle protein to connective tissue protein in relation to other animals. Fish possesses excellent amino acid balance with high digestibility percentage of about 87 – 98% compared to 87 – 90% recorded for beef and poultry. In addition, fish is very important to the developing world population as it is the major source of cheap high quality animal proteins which are very vital for healthy development. Fish production is relatively inexpensive when compared with other sources of animal protein such as cattle, pig and poultry. In view of the facts that most of the health related problems in developing world such as abnormal development, reduction in human productivity, high incidence of infant mortality, malnutrition and diseases have been attributed to low intake of good quality animal protein, this has made production of fish very imperative to the good health of the nations in the developing world. Fish farming has a lot of potentials to sustainable development. Fish as a source of rich food for the poor can play a crucial role in improving the food security and nutritional status of the millions of the people in Africa and other developing part of the world. The present low level of fish production in Africa can be increased sustainatially by adapting a technological shift from extensive to intensive system of production as is the trend in developed countries.