Reproductive Performance and Profitability of Local and Imported Clarias gariepinus Strains in Two Agro-ecological Zones of Cameroon

Abstract

Background: Aquaculture production of most aquatic species currently farmed relies heavily on wild-type stocks with limited genetic improvement, resulting in low productivity. In recent years, intensive breeding of this species in urban and peri-urban areas has developed and the same strain of Clarias gariepinus broodstock is frequently reused for several generations for reproduction and exchanged among producers. Aims: One of the constraints encountered by aquaculturist is the lack of control over the strains and their performances. This study was conducted to evaluate on-farm performance and profitability of imported and local strains of Clarias gariepinus cultivated in Cameroon. Study Design: This study was carried out from February 01 to June 20, 2024 in the Western Highlands and the Monomodale Rainfall Forest Zone of Cameroon. Methodology: Forty (40) farms rearing C. gariepinus were sampled and surveyed in the Western Highlands and the Monomodale Rainfall Forest Zone of Cameroon. The data was gathered via personal interviews. Descriptive analyses were used to characterize and evaluate the performance of Clarias gariepinus breeding in Cameroon. The socio-demographic characteristics of the farmers, the performance and the profitability of the farms according to the strains were compared using the Krustal-wallis and t-test respectively. Results: At the end of this study, the results show that 57% of producers use local strains, 13% for imported strains and 30% do not control the origin of the strain used. The strains to be used are chosen either for their growth and immune resistance (producers of local strains) or for their growth only (producers of imported strains). The socio-demographic characteristics of producers did not significantly affect (p> 0.05) the choice of the strain. With the exception of the average daily gain, all the reproductive characteristics studied were significantly affected by the type of strain (p< 0.05). Thus, the imported strain has the highest significant values for hatching rates (76.66%) and survival at the third day, unlike the egg-laying rates (19.33%) and deformed larvae (2.66%) which were lower. As for the productivity and cost of the fry, the highest significant values (p< 0.05) were with the imported strain, i.e. 4.92 fry/gram of female and 26.03 CFA francs respectively. Conclusion: In terms of productivity and profitability, the highest significant values were with the imported strain. However, the study shows that the local strain has the lowest production costs per fry, resulting in the highest profits per fry. However, the local stain shows greater variability in zootechnical and economic characteristics, which suggests it may respond more favorably to genetic selection.