Importance of quality of fingerlings on fish farming business

What are fingerlings?

A young fish, especially one less than a year old and about the size of a human finger

Catfish fingerlings

Tilapia fingerlings

*Quality of fingerlings refers to as general health, relative size,physical and physiological characteristics. 

* Many farmers tend to put much concern on land, feeds and water    while ignore the quality of fingerlings. That is a big mistake due      to the fact that quality of fingerlings tend to affect production and    return hence fail in selecting quality fingerlings mark the loss          point  to the fish farm business.

Loss in fish farming business

 * A farmer should be able to assess quality fingerlings in order to       ensure success in his/her business. 

* To do so any fish farmer is supposed to know practical criteria for     assessing the quality of fingerlings which are as follows:

•    Source of fingerlings
•    Physical appearance
•    Physiological
• 
  

1. 1.Source of fingerlings

•   Has a good reputation among farmers, ask neighbor fish farmers/contact with the aquaculture officer can help in get fish centre that produce quality fingerlings.

    * Fish farm that have adequate facilities to hold and condition fish      before live transportation.

   * Fish centre that keep records hence make buyer to trace the lot of    fingerlings  purchased down to the batch.

    * That produce fingerlings in given standard.

2.Physical characteristics

Farmer should buyer fingerlings with a uniform color and

size, 

why?

*  Ensure the target made by a farmer to become reach, if a farmer       takes fingerlings with uniform size and color have advantages         like:

•   Prevent cannibalism (catfish and other predator fish have a tendency of big sized fingerlings to eat small ones).
• 
  
•   Prevent harvesting fish with mixed size fish hence reducing targeted biomass .Mostly buyer focus on big size rather than small size hence only big size fish will be taken faster and leave small one .
• 
  
•   Farmer should avoid purchase fingerlings with patches over the body. This is due to those patches may be due to disease that has attacked fish

                           

Fingerlings with patches are not good to select

•    Avoid fingerlings that missing tails, fins, less than two barbels (in case of catfish).
• 
  
•    Show signs of physical injury and deformed

               

Fingerlings with deformity

        

   3.Physiological characteristics

                                                                                                                Includes;

      ·Fingerlings should swim normally and should be active

      ·Fingerlings that are sluggish, do not respond on feeding and           isolated from the rest.

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