1.1 Background to the Study
Fish and its product are very important
to human population all over the world. According to the Food and
Agricultural Organization (2002), most of the world''s population (56%)
derives at least 20% of its animal protein intake from fish. This is
because fish is the preferred source of much desired animal protein as
compared to poultry, beef, mutton or pork. It is comparatively cheaper
and highly acceptable with little or no religious bias which gives it
advantage over the proteins (Phillips, 2004).
In Nigeria, fish pepper Soup is one of
their best delicacies leading to a higher demand for fish in the region.
This gave rise to the increasing number of fish farms in the region in
order to meet the demand for fish and also offset the scarcity of fish
gotten from the wild environment. Fishes are reared in different culture
media or controlled environment which could be ponds (concrete or
earthen), vats (wooden or fiber glass) and plastics (Osawe,2004). Among
these culture systems concrete and earthen pond are widely used (Ezenwa,
2006).
Earthen pond culture system has been the
conventional method of fish culture in Nigeria, until recently;
concrete tanks culture system is gaining grounds as land become costly,
scarce and readily unavailable (Onome and Ebinimo,2010). Research has
shown that a higher number of fish farmers use concrete ponds (73%) as
compared to 27% using earthen ponds in Nigeria (Ugwumba, 2010). Fishes
cultivated in these controlled environments have been found to be
contaminated by microorganisms (pathogenic and opportunistic organisms)
(Fafioye, 2011; Nguyen et al., 2007). This contamination has been
attributed to questionable water quality and high stocking densities
(Okpokwusili and Ogbuile, 1998). The feed used for the fish in these
ponds contain organic materials and introduces a wide variety of
microorganisms in the ponds (Okpokwasili and Ogbuile, 1999).
1.2 Problem Statement
Among the constraints of fish farming is
the high cost of feeding, which resulted to the use of animal.manure to
augment conventional feed in countries like Nigeria. However, Organic
manure also leads to the release of high concentration of opportunistic
and pathogenic microorganisms into the ponds which are of public health
concerns. Hence their is need to evaluate the microbiological and
physico chemical qualities of fresh water ponds in Nigeria.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The major objective of the study is to
evaluate the microbiological and PHYSICO chemical qualities of fresh
water ponds in Nigeria.
1.4 Research Questions
(1) what are fresh water fish ponds?
(2) what are the microbiological parameters for fresh water fish ponds?
(3) what are the physicochemical parameters for fresh water fish ponds?
(4) why the need to evaluate the microbiological and physiochemical qualities of fresh water fish ponds?
1.5 Significance of the Study
The microbial flora of a cultivated fish
is a reflection of its aqueous environment (Erondu and Ayanwu,2005), it
is therefore important to understand the microflora in fresh water fish
ponds. It is also significant to evaluate and compare the microbial
quality and physiochemical parameters of some fresh water fish ponds in
Nigeria.
1.6 Scope of the Study
The research focuses on the evaluation of microbiological and physiochemical qualities of fresh water fish ponds in Nigeria.
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