ABSTRACT
Improved aquaculture production enhanced by support from government and NGOs can be very effective and sustainable when proper statistics of the aquaculture industry are available. One of the statistical tool of interest in this regard is the quantity of fish rearing facilities at the disposal of fish farmers in the state. This study assessed the various fish rearing facilities in Egor, Ikpoba okha, Oredo and Ovia North East Local Government Areas of Edo State. A multi stage sampling technique was used to select 100 fish farmers for the study of which a hundred well-structured questionnaires were administered. Data obtained were carefully analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16. Results were presented using descriptive statistic such as percentages and bar charts. Descriptive statistics involving the use of frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviation were used to present the data on socio-economic characteristics of the respondents.
Results of the study showed that 73% of the fish farmers were male with 27% females; 78 % of the respondents had tertiary education. Majority of the farmers had 1-5years of farming experience. Results from this study indicates that majority of the fish farmers in the study area uses plastic or rubber tanks (24%) to culture fish, followed by concrete tanks (23%), earthen ponds were used by 22%, 11% used tarpaulin, while 8% used fibreglass tanks. 5% uses both concrete and plastic, 4% uses both concrete and tarpaulin, 3% uses earthen, concrete and plastic tanks.
It was concluded that plastic tanks and concrete are the most commonly used fish culture facility in Edo South Agricultural Zone. Fish production was reportedly higher when using earthen pond.
