A comparative study of the profitability of brush parks in two states in Nigeria

Brush parks consist of branches of trees or shrubs stuck into muddy bottoms of lagoons, lakes or rivers at a depth of 1 to 1.5 m. The branches are placed in water to form aggregations, which are removed after a short lapse of time, together with any fish that may have sought shelter amongst them. Brush parks are found in several of the West African coastal lagoons such as Lagos and freshwater environments in Niger State, Nigeria. The study examined the profitability of the brush parks in two states in Nigeria. Data was collected by means of semi-structured questionnaire administered to 200 fishermen with brush parks selected in a random manner from Niger and Lagos States of Nigeria. Independent samples t-test was used to compare the means of two independent samples for test of significance. Chi square (χ 2 ) was used to investigate the significant relationships between pairs of categorical variables. Relationships between pairs of quantitative variables were tested using Pearson correlation. The profitability indices showed that brush parks are profitable in the two states. The brush parks are more profitable in Lagos State because net return was significantly (p=0.001) higher in Lagos than Niger State. Rate of income (91%) and benefit-cost ratio (10.3) were also higher in Lagos than Niger State. Production of fish from brush parks should be supported and encouraged. Support could be in the form of technical assistance, infrastructure development, extension services or subsidies.