Cost Consciousness and Fish Farming Sustainability in Cross River State, Nigeria

The study determines the cost consciousness and fish farming sustainability in Cross River State, Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study were; to identify breeds of fish reared by fish farmers for sustainable fish production, to determine the methods used by fish farmers for sustainable fish farming/production and to identify constraints affecting fish farming in Cross River State, Nigeria. A two stage sampling techniques was used to select 729 fish farmers from the 18 Local Government Areas of the State. Data from a well-structured questionnaire, budgetary techniques were analyzed using Descriptive and Inferential Statistics. The study estimated the cost and return of fish farming based on 18,000 fingerlings and multiple regression analysis was carried out in three (3) functional forms; Linear, exponential and semi-log forms. The findings of the study showed that 34% of fish farmers were between the ages of (45 to 54), 6% were between the ages of (25 to 34), 29% were between the ages of (35 to 44), 18% were between the ages of (55 to 64), 13% falls in the age bracket of 65 and above. Furthermore, 2% were fish farmers with First School Leaving Certificate, 11% with Senior Secondary School Certificate, 40% with OND/NCE and 47% with HND/University degree. The study also showed that 35% were civil servants, 16% were traders, 29% were fish farmers 14% were Business Men/Women, 3% were Teachers and 3% were in the category of others. The study also revealed that 29% of fish farmers in the study area were single, 42% were married, 12% were divorced and 17% were widow(er). The result also showed that 100% of fish farmers in the study area used intensive farming methods and that; Cat fish/Clarias, Poly-culture (Claria/Tilapia) and Hetero branch us hybrids were commonly reared in the research area with the use of collapsible, earthen and concrete ponds and a total profits of N1,890,000.00 was made at the time of the research with the cost of production of N9,810,000.00 and total revenue of  N11,700,000.00, which implied that, fish farming venture in the study area is highly profitable. The study identified; high cost of feeds, lack of funds, predation, lack of awareness, skilled personnel, and inadequate water quality/availability as major constraints to fish farming and recommends among others that the Government of Cross River State should partner with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and International Organizations to provide facilities like loan, drilling of boreholes (for those in the remote areas to have access to water), introducing new breeds of fish, feeds etc for fish farmers in the area to be able to sustain or meet up with the demands for fish consumption.