The Catfish Farmers Association of Nigeria (CAFAN) in Oyo
State says its members are now adding value to harvested fish in order to check
under-pricing of fresh fish in the market.

CAFAN’s new Chairman in the state, Mrs Modupe Kolade, told
newsmen in Ibadan on Tuesday that the value addition was in form of drying
of  fish to elongate the shelf life.

“It is unfortunate that the fish-mongers have been
exploiting us by offering us ridiculously low prices for our harvest and we are
forced to sell to them, ’’ Kolade said.

The CAFAN chief said exploitation of their members was
inevitable as they could not refuse to sell as fund was required in sustaining
and feeding unsold stock in the fish pond.

Kolade, however, said many CAFAN members in the state had
resorted to drying their harvested fish and selling them thereafter at good
prices.

“Due to the adoption of value addition, we don’t sell fresh
fish anyhow or in large quantity as we used to do in those days”, she said.

Kolade said that investigation had shown that apart from the
longer shelf life, dried fish remained tastier than fresh fish and often lasted
longer in home-made stew.

“Our members have confirmed that they make more profit now
that they dry their harvest as they are able to control the price than when
they sell it fresh, ’’ she added.

Kolade said because of the value addition, the amount of
fresh fish available in the market had gone down considerably.

She said fresh fish may also be scarce because some
fingerlings were yet to reach maturity in the ponds as harvesting was usually
done after three to four months.

The CAFAN chairman told newsmen that by the end of October,
the association would organise a fish fair in Ibadan, adding that a committee
to organise the programme had been constituted.