The Eastern Regional President of the Fish Farmers Association, Mr Samuel Afum-Ankrah, has suggested to the youth to invest in fish farming to create employment for themselves and members of their communities.
He said earnings from fish farming was far higher than the average salary level of workers in the country and therefore fish farming could be an area for poverty alleviation and also help in improving the nutritional needs of the population.
Mr Afum-Ankrah, who was championing the promotion of fish farming in the Kwaebibirem District, was speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an interview at Kade at the weekend.
He said young people who invested in tilapia farming could make average net earnings of GHC 4,000 in six months from a fish pond of 20 by 30 meters in size.
He explained that, by such calculations, the investor could therefore make a net average earnings of over GHC 600 per month from a pond and that could multiply by the number of ponds that one could manage.
Mr Afum-Ankrah said the average size of fish pond could yield an average annual earning of GHC 27,500 if one invested in cat fish farming and this could provide a net monthly income of over GHC 2,000 per month for any young man who invested in it.
Mr Afum-Ankrah said an average fish pond size of 20 by 30 meters could produce tilapia of 1.5 tons or 1,500 kilogramme weight of tilapia every six months, which sells between 3.5 to 5.5 Ghana Cedis at the farm gate depending on the season and other factors.
The tilapia is fed on a special feed, which is sold in 20 kilogramme weights at GHC 52 per bag and one would need 25 bags to feed the fish for six months twice a day.
Mr Afum-Ankrah said the same size of fish pond could produce three tons or 3,000 kilogrammes of cat fish per annum, which is sold at GHC 10 at the farm gate, which could yield a gross return of GHC 30,000.
He said the area had 14 functional ponds of which nine are of average size with five ponds, which were much bigger.
He said those bigger ponds were abandoned diamond mines.
Mr Afum-Ankrah said the major challenge facing members of the association in the district and the whole of Eastern Region was the non-availability of fingerlings to feed the ponds.
He said the regional branch of the association had been able to overcome that challenge by establishing its own fingerling production centre at Nkawanda Number Two, in the Kwahu West District.
Mr Afum Ankrah said another challenge facing members, which they were yet to overcome, was the non-availability of testing kits to test the water quality of the ponds since sometimes the alkaline and acidity quality of the water bodies in them could affect the fingerlings.
Mr Kofi Ametepe, Kwaebibirem District Director of Agriculture, advised members of the Fish Farmers Association to use the knowledge they had acquired in the management of the alkaline and acid content of their ponds in the absence of the testing kits while the Ministry of Food and Agriculture makes efforts to get some of the equipment for their staff to support them.