Management, Challenges and Developments of Aquaculture ... 13to its maximum potential. Infact, these challenges led to failure of aquaculture
development in the 1980s. These challenges still remain a travesty in the
development of the fish farm industry and meeting the nation’s protein
requirement of present and future generation. The major constraints include:
High cost of good-quality feed
Intensive fish culture where the fish are totally fed has become a usual
culture method than extensive culture systems especially in cage farming
where complete floating feeds are used in Ghana. Floating feeds are partly
imported and produced in Ghana. The most common fish feed available in the
local market include raanan, coppens and multi-feed. The crude protein (CP)
content of the commercial feeds are; 55-58%, 40-48%, 30-38% and 27%. The
most commonly used by fish farmers are 40% CP for juveniles and 30% CP
for adults. Some farms also produce their own feed using locally materials
such as maize, rice bran, groundnuts and cowpea. Local feedstuffs from plants
source lack methionine and lysine required for optimum growth of fish. In
intensive culture, the fish are totally fed by artificial compound feed. Feed cost
has been the single largest operating expense of intensive fish culture,
accounting for over 7 0% of the total operational costs. At present, the price of
15kg Rannan fish feed with 40% CP is GH₵ 60 - 65 (US$16-17) while 20kg
with 30% CP is GH₵7 0 - 75 (US$18-20). The high cost is making it difficult
for farmers to purchase enough feed, thereby leading to underfeeding of fish in
most farms. Feed therefore plays a critical role in the aquaculture industry of
Ghana. The lack of rich protein supplements has become a serious issue in
feed industry. Fish nutritionist all over the world are constantly searching for
the dietary protein sources in which fish will maximize growth and increase
production within the shortest possible time and at lowest cost (Kaushik,
2000). The high cost of good quality feed must be tackled urgently to sustain
the aquaculture industry of Ghana.
Lack of Access to Funds
Lack of access to funds had mean rankings 3.8 and 3.6, on a 4 - point scale,
for abandoned farmers and operational farmers, respectively. This puts, lack of
access as the second most important problem limiting aquaculture production
and led to abandonment of most fish farms in the study area. This is consistent
with the findings of Anane-Taabeah et al. (2010) that investigated on the
constraints and opportunities in cage aquaculture in Ghana and found out that,
lack of access to funds major reason why farmers abandoned their cages.
Aquaculture is generally capital intensive, characterized by high cost of feed,