Completion report on technical training in best hatchery management practices for hatchery operators in the Niger-Delta

Abstract

This training program for capacity building in hatchery management was proposed to mitigate skills gap earlier observed during the technical assessment of catfish hatcheries in the Niger Delta for infrastructural upgrade that was conducted in 2014. Of the twelve (12) catfish hatcheries selected for facility upgrade, eight (8) were empowered with production facilities following competitive bidding, while the entire twelve (12) were recalled to provide two (2) persons for capacity building in best hatchery management practices. However, only twenty-two (22) out of the expected twenty-four (24) participants attended the training program, as two (2) farms namely Zezi farms, Benin, Edo State and Segfun farms Calabar, Cross River State were represented by one trainee each. Pre-training evaluation conducted to determine the areas of critical deficiencies revealed the need to improve skills in all areas of controlled catfish propagation since challenges indicated by participants as intractable for them cut across all areas of controlled fish breeding. The modules for the training that took place in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, between the 16th and 19th of May 2017, comprised of technical and practical sessions. Seven (7) technical sessions (TS) were delivered in a 67 slides power point presentation at Sparklight Hotel, GRA Phase 3, and seven (7) hands-on, practical sessions (PS) were conducted in the hatchery of Mayuel Fisheries belonging to one of the trainees. Controlled spawning of Clarias gariepinus by the dry stripping method was carried out at Mayuel Fisheries, Port-Harcourt using male and female broodstock procured from another farm within Port-Harcourt metropolis. All aspects of seed propagation techniques such as broodstock selection, induction of ovulation, milt procurement, fertilization, egg incubation, fry nursing, fry rearing, biosecurity and disease control were demonstrated within the 4-day period of training. In their post training evaluation, the trainees adjudged both the technical and the practical sessions as timely, appropriate and excellently delivered, providing insights that will be helpful in overcoming their challenges, since errors of the past were fully exposed and addressed. Some recommendations were made in the action plan drawn by the trainees to round-up the training program