http://odili.net/news/source/2008/may/15/507.html
Fish farming is gold mine, says Adediran, MD, Aquaticulture Ltd
By By LOUIS IBA Thursday, May 15, 2008 Israel Adediran, Managing Director, Aquaticulture Project Consultancy Limited, is a man with a deep passion for fish farming. He has not only succeeded in this business, but has also created employment opportunities for others through the various seminars and workshops that he organised. He shared his experience with Daily Sun in this interview. Excerpts: Background My name is Israel Ademuyiwa Adediran and I hold a Bachelor of Science (Bsc) and Masters in Science (Msc) degrees in Marine Biology &Oceanography and Fisheries respectively from the University of Lagos. But generally, people call me ‘Mr. Fish’ because they know and relate with the fact that my mission is all about disseminating fish production techniques and technology to people. I have set out with a mission to teach and influence people in such a way that they will be able to make money from fish farming. That is what I have been doing all my life ever since I finished from the university. When I finished my Msc degree I came out with two international papers which was applauded by my lecturers but then I had no kobo to show for the paper. But I met one young man who just finished from a University in California and he told me to supply him about 2,000 pieces of red-legged crab every two weeks. I was supplying him at N5 per crab, but I discovered he was selling it for $2 per crab and you can imagine the kind of money that he was making. It was interesting that while I had all the education, he had all the knowledge on fish farming business and so was converting it into making the money. It was my encounter with this guy that gingered me up and I then realise that I had to convert all the education that I had acquired into making money. My focus was on the entrepreneurial aspect by converting the complex technical information into moneymaking opportunities. That has been the anchor of my company, Aquaticulture Project Limited which is predicated in turning knowledge into wisdom which of course, when applied, it will make you smile to the bank. In the beginning Let me start by telling you that I have never worked for anyone in the name of receiving a salary. Before I concluded my postgraduate studies, I had partnered with a friend who studied architecture to float a company and we were making aquarium and selling it to people. The company was a success story and we were really very innovative because we were using live aquatic plants to set up an aquarium. In fact, we had 39 staff on our payroll. That time we were about 24 years old or thereabout. So, it was quite a rollicking time. That was how we started. But so many people were telling us that an aquarium was a child’s play – a kind of toy. People are hungry and they need food to eat. So, these people were challenging me to make something that people can eat. They were encouraging me to start fish food production. One of the clients called me one day and said “young man, why can’t you do the one people will eat because people are hungry”. It was then that I knew that I had to move into the real thing. I however had a challenge, which I needed to overcome. I had the education quite all right but I needed the knowledge to establish and run a profitable catfish business. What I did was to go around looking for books on how to upgrade my knowledge on catfish business. I also went to universities in Nigeria and gathered information on how to be successful in catfish business. It was after this that I decided to put into practices the knowledge and information I had gathered over the years. And that was how I went into full fish farming business. Money in fish farming The demand for fish as a major source of protein in Nigeria cannot be overemphasized, with a shortfall of about two million metric tonnes per annum. This shortfall cannot be met by old methods or ideas of catfish farming in outdoor dig-out-extensive ponds. Traditionally, pond farming seems easier and cheaper. But this method is however highly unprofitable for the following reasons: the fish output is low; large expanse of land is required to operate the business; labour expenses are high; and the sources of water (river and rainfall) is unreliable. And there is also the problems of no tight control because of the high cost of fencing swampland to prevent poaching and theft, which is rampant these days; and then predation by kingfishers, herons, alligators, snakes, etc. Honestly, you cannot be among the industrial giants in catfish business with this old ideas or methods. Things are changing with technological advancements in the world. These days, you have to think of how you can make over two million naira at your backyard every six months with a space of 3m or 5m space pond. The catfish business has witnessed a major revolution and I think over 55 innovations have taken place in recent years. Let me give you an example on how things have changed. When we were in the university, we were taught that catfish would grow 200grammes in 9 months if you stick at two fish per square metres. But today, we have people stocking 300 fish per square metres and having it grow to 1.5kg on the average in five months. That is why so many people are now showing interest in catfish. Look at Singapore, it is a like a dot on our map. It is about the size of Bayelsa State in Nigeria with a population of about 3.5 million people. Yet, it is responsible for 30 per cent of the world’s tropical fish. This makes their airport the second largest cargo airport in the world; and tropical fish is the singular largest airfreight item in Singapore. And it is not that they have a tropical whether. That was why I had to go there to find out how they achieved this spectacular feat. I have a passion for this business and I want others who share similar dreams and aspiration in fish farming business to be successful. It is this passion to ensure that people succeed that has led me into organizing seminars and workshops to create awerness on how to deploy the recent technology in the production of healthy and high yielding fishes. We will be organizing one seminar for those in Lagos and environs at the Peace Hotel in Omole, Lagos sometime around May 2008. Innovations boosting production The quest for knowledge took me to Singapore where I attended an International Conference on catfish production. In Singapore, it was an amazing experience to discover that what is responsible for the tremendous success that Singapore has recorded in catfish production is the incredible palm-size, convex glass lens that is used to actually enhance agricultural production. It is called Bio-Disc. It was invented by a British surgeon. I also discovered that the reason Singapore is able to produce about 30 per cent of the world’s tropical fish, is that they use life water to do their farming while here in Nigeria, we use dead water. The Bio-Disc can actually be used as a cost savings mechanism for fuels because the scalar energy and resonance produced by the bio-disc rejuvenates the molecular structure in petrol, diesel and kerosene thereby reducing the fuel consumption rate of these fuels by as much as 70 per cent. What you do is simply to press the disc against the petrol station’s dispensers pile; spray the energizers water round about your keg filled with the fuel, before pouring it into your generators or car; and you must place the disc in your funnel before you mount the fuel into the tank. It’s a simple technology that works very well. And this bio-disc can be used to energize dead water like the once from taps or boreholes and wells and turn them into bio-energized living water. If we can apply this new, simple, cheap innovation, I believe Nigeria can achieve a breakthrough in fish production. The Bio-Disc was specially designed to improve the strength, vigour, and health of livestock and even human beings. Because of the restructuring ability of the fused minerals in the bio-disc it has been known to enhance health growth and reproductive ability of livestock namely catfish, piggery, poultry, snailery, rabbit, grass cutters, cats and dogs. Its use in irrigation for vegetables and shrubs accelerate the growth of the crops as it was applied by strawberry farmers in Australia.
Dr. Samuel Kayode Olamijulo
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