Fish farmers increase price by 45%

The Fish Farmers Association (FFA) in the FCT has announced a 45 per cent increase in the price of fish. 

In a communiqué signed by the association’s Coordinator, Mr Ekene Dominic, the farmers said it became imperative for them to jerk up the price as the high cost of fish production had hit the rooftop.

City & Crime learnt that the decision was reached after several days of deliberation by the stakeholders in the fish value chain, including fresh fish sellers, fish farmers, dry fish sellers and fish feed producers.

Dominic noted that the cost of raising 1,000 juvenile fish which was about N550,000 had now shot up to over  N1.3m.

The communiqué reads in part: “With this high cost of fish production, by the current high cost of living, over 400 fish farms in the FCT have closed down. The cost of feed is very high due to the high cost of raw materials for production.

“We are faced with economic hardship, scarcity of feed raw materials, and a very unstable forex market which is affecting all.”

They, therefore, appealed for government intervention to salvage them and the fish value chain in the FCT.

The communiqué added: “We are not ignorant of the events and the state of the nation as regards food security, and especially now that the intervention of the fish farmers has helped in no small measure to put affordable protein on the table for families.”