Abstract
Coronavirus 2019 is a global health concern that has left most countries in a state of severe economic meltdown. Scientific research has been down on the virus and its impact on various sectors but that of the Nigerian aquaculture industry has been missing. This paves the way for this research to aim at bridging this gap by looking at the perception of fish farmers on the influence of coronavirus on their activities, the challenges they face during the period of the virus, and the coping strategies adopted to mitigate the impact of the virus. The research used cross sectional survey design with the sample size being 11 fish farmers living in Oyo state, Nigeria. Homogeneous purposive sampling was used and primary data collected through the use of google form. The data collected was analysis using SPSS version 25.0. The result of the analysed data showed that: on socioeconomic characteristics; the majority of the respondent reported that Coronavirus has had an effect on their fishing activity and they were mostly small scale farmers with catfish being the predominate fish farmed. The majority of fish farmers perceived demand decline, high cost of production, fish being more expensive, and reduction of manpower on the farm due to lockdown measures. Reduction in walk-in customers to the farm was revealed as the major challenge posed by the pandemic, while the inability to get technical support as least. On coping strategies adopted, it was revealed that farmers have resorted to the development of their own feed.
Highlights
The novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from the family coronaviridae, a single-stranded RNA virus measuring 80 to 120nm in diameter is broadly distributed in mammals (Sharma et al, 2020)
This research will seek to: (1) identify the socioeconomic characteristics of fish farmers in Nigeria; (2) examine the perception of fish farmers on the influence of COVID-19 on aquaculture; (3) identify challenges faced by fish farmers during COVID-19, and; (4) coping strategies adopted to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on Nigeria aquaculture
The global health crisis caused by COVID-19 has led to an unexpected effect on world economies with economies struggling to mitigate the effect of the pandemic
Summary
The novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from the family coronaviridae (subfamily Orthocoronavirinae), a single-stranded RNA virus measuring 80 to 120nm in diameter is broadly distributed in mammals (Sharma et al, 2020). The virus was first reported in December 2019 in Wuhan, China (Wu et al, 2020). It was declared a public health emergency of international concern on 30 January 2020, and as a pandemic on 11 March 2020 by World Health Organisation. The virus primarily spread through close contact and small droplets produced when infected patients cough, sneeze, or talk (World Health Organisation, 2020; Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). The virus has spread to 110 countries, with an estimated 11 million people infected as of 2 June 2020. The advent of the virus has led to a global health crisis, which has disrupted the economic system, security, and health of many countries. As some countries try to return to normality, the full economic impact of the virus is yet to be ascertained
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
