The diversity in world fish culture as illustrated by the cases of China and Nigeria

Abstract

World fish culture production has experienced a dramatic increase during the last 30 years (9% per year) and has reached the level of landings by capture fisheries in terms of contribution to food security. Fish culture displays a wide range of production systems which facilitate its development in all kinds of environmental situations, by all types of operators and for a variety of markets. Fish plays a key role as food for poor people but fish culture has not yet succeeded in becoming an efficient tool for alleviating poverty. Two examples are presented in this article: rice-fish culture in China and African catfish culture in Nigeria. The former is an extensive system consisting in cultivating a food crop and food fish together, emphasizing all the natural synergies occurring in a paddy field resulting in a high level of global efficiency. This heritage system, after having experienced a slowdown during the agricultural intensification of the "green revolution,"is recovering a major role in the framework of an ecosystemic and socio-economical approach. The second system is the very first large scale aquaculture system ever developed in sub Saharan Africa. A market-oriented catfish value chain has been implemented by private entrepreneurs which should largely benefit in the future from a situation of fish food deficit encountered by Nigeria.