Profitability of Small-scale Grow-out Production of Caged Nile Tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus in the Volta Lake of Ghana

The profitability of small-scale grow-out caged Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus production in the Volta Lake of Ghana was investigated within a period of 6 months (from July to December, 2022). The study site was part of the CSIR-WRI-ARDEC research and commercial facilities which lies between latitude 6° 13ʹ North and the longitude 0° 4ʹ East at Akosombo within the Asuogyaman District in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The study was carried out in a four-in-one floating fish cage of effective volume 112.50 m3 each; identified as C1, C2, C3 and C4. The 4 compartments were stocked with a total of 10,876 mono sex male juvenile O. niloticus, ranging between 50.0 and 90.0 g. The fish were stocked in the cages at varied numbers (C1: 5,144; C2: 1,728; C3: 2,606 and C4: 1,398) based on weight ranges (50.0-60.0 g, 61.0-70.0 g, 71.0-80.0 g and 81.0-90.0 g) of the total fish available for stocking. The initial mean weights were 53.04 ± 7.19 g, 67.45 ± 10.59 g, 73.49 ± 9.86 g and 84.19 ± 8.90 g for C1, C2, C3 and C4, respectively. The cultured fish were fed at declining rates of 4.0 to 1.5% with floating extruded pelleted commercial feeds of sizes 3.0 and 4.5 mm and 30.0% crude protein (CP﴿ contents, three times daily. After 127 to 204 days, the fish were harvested, graded, counted, weighed and sold. Profitability was determined using production and price parameters. Mean survival was 83.40 ± 17.88% and that of gross yield was 787.69 ± 235.05 kg cage-1 (6.15 ± 1.64 kg m-3﴿. Feed constituted the major (66.70%﴿ production cost whilst a mean of 37.15 ± 11.18% return on investment (ROI) was generated. Production of caged Nile tilapia was economically rewarding and for higher profit margins, number of cages and stocked fish per cage must increase.