Lagos – Mr Remi Ahmed, the national president, Tilapia Aquaculture Development Association of Nigeria (TADAN), on Wednesday warned fish farmers against the use of antibiotics on their products.

Ahmed, a culturing expert, said in Lagos that instead of antibiotics, farmers should consider the use of probiotics.

He described probiotic as a food or other substance that contained bacteria, and could be used in a positive way to improve health.

It also had various health benefits, Ahmed said.

The official said that when antibiotic was administered too often on fish, it would make the bad bacteria to develop resistance to probiotics.

He said that the WHO’s publication of October 2015 explained how Norway avoided antibiotics in fish farming.

The report said that the abuse of antibiotics could speed up the development of antibiotics resistance in fish or human, he said.

Hence, Ahmed said that for the export of fishes to the European Union countries, farmers should avoid the use of antibiotics.

“When I started off my aquaculture career with a leading agro-firm some years back, the owner of the firm used to advise against the use of antibiotics, because we were producing for export.

“So, no European will want to taste a fish if he or she knows that antibiotic was used to treat it at any point.

“Probiotics is natural bacterial; extracted good bacteria feed to the fish, so that they can fight the bad ones. It is just like having soldiers prepared against the rebels.

“Instead of using antibiotics that is not good for the health of the fish and humans, why not use probiotics to fight and protect the fish.

“I encourage our members to stop using antibiotics because it has been banned in Europe and most parts of the world,” Ahmed said

According to him, the use of antibiotics is only predominant in Nigeria than in most countries.