Why Catfish Fingerling Prices May Understate Nigeria’s Inflation Reality

This is the second part of my analysis of what I consider a misleading interpretation of inflation figures in Nigeria. I am focusing on aquaculture, especially catfish farming and the rising cost of stocking fish ponds. In Lagos markets, farmers buy fish at different stages, including fries, post-fries, Ijebu fingerlings, standard fingerlings, post-fingerlings, juveniles and post-juveniles. Before fuel-subsidy removal, Ijebu fingerlings of about 2cm sold for roughly ₦4, while post-fingerlings of about 5cm sold for about ₦10. Afterward, their prices rose to about ₦8 and ₦20 respectively. Today, a post-fingerling is reportedly closer in size to the old Ijebu fingerling but sells for about ₦27. While a simple calculation may measure the increase from ₦20 to ₦27, I believe the comparison should account for the reduced size of the fish being sold. From that perspective, the cost has risen from about ₦8 to ₦27, placing heavy pressure on fish farmers and contributing to farm closures. My next analysis will examine the cost of fish feed and its effect on aquaculture businesses.

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