This research was undertaken to find out the levels of five heavy metals (Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, and Zn) in the muscles of eight fish species from Epe Lagoon. The levels of heavy metals were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry after digestion of the samples using Kjldahl heating digester. The heavy metal concentrations among the fish species were statistically dissimilar (P < 0.5). The heavy metals of Pb, Fe, and Mn were above the FAO/WHO agreeable limits for human consumption.

Nigeria is endowed with extensive inland water bodies that are very rich in fish and shell fish many of which are of commercial importance. These diverse fish resources with immense potential plays contributing role to the food security and improving livelihoods of local fishers, but in recent years, there has been serious concern about the poor status of the inland capture fisheries. Overfishing has been recognized as a major threat to sustainability of the fisheries. Overfishing has brought about changes in species composition, decline yield and fish stocks are being threatened with depletion because of ineffectiveness and weak regulations. This paper elucidates and analyses the causes, signs and types of overfishing in the inland capture fisheries in Nigeria. It also highlights current management measures, reasons for management failure and some of the procedure that could be adapted for sustainable management of inland capture fisheries.

Freezing preserves food by stopping the growth and multiplication of microbes or by halting enzymatic activities in foods that would otherwise cause spoilage. This study was conducted to identify and profile the microbes present in frozen fish. Five frozen fish species, Trachurus trachurus, Scombers combrus, Larimichthys crocea, Gadus chalcogrammus and Oreochromis niloticus, were purchased from Ijora–Olopa frozen fish sales outlet in Lagos State and transported in ice-flakes to the laboratory for microbiological analysis of the skin, muscles and gills. S. scombrus and G. chalcogrammus had the highest (5.30 x 102 cfu/g) and lowest microbial loads (1.85 x 102 cfu/g) respectively. The result however showed that L. crocea and G. Chalcogrammus were noticed to be significantly different (P<0.05) for coliform count on both the skin and the gills. These values were much higher than the recommended public health and safety standard values that ranged from 5.0 × 10 and 1.0 × 106CFUg-1, approved by Nigerian National Agency for Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). Hence, it is necessary that frozen foods should be properly cooked before consumption and effective hazard analysis and critical control points implemented. The predominant bacteria species isolated were Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas spp., Staphylococcus aureus, E. Coli and Salmonella spp while the predominant fungal species isolated were Apergillus flavus, A. fumigatus, A. niger and Yeast.

| This research was carried out to investigate the length-weight relationship and condition factor of Coptodon guineensis from the New Calabar River and Buguma Creek, Nigeria. Assessments of the length and weight parameters indicated that the total length ranged from 12.4 cm to 29.8 cm with a mean value of 17.84±0.40 and the weight varied between 41g to 640g in subject collected from New Calabar River population. In Buguma Creek, the total length ranged from 10.9 cm to 23.5 cm with a mean value of 14.99 ± 0.26 and the weight was from 21g to 520g. The b value varied between 2.96, which were recorded for New Calabar River population, and 3.28 that was observed for Buguma Creek population. However, the condition factor of C. guineensis from Buguma Creek was significantly (p<0.005) higher than New Calabar River. These results demonstrate that the well-being of the species was slightly better in Buguma Creek than New Calabar River. Collectively these findings confirmed the ability of the species to thrive in brackish water and freshwater, and that these parameters support the assessment of the well-being of different fish in different locations.

A study was conducted on commercially important fish species of heavy metals in water bodies. The primary objectives were to find out the amount of heavy metals concentration in the fish species, sediments and water samples at the deep and shallow part of the river, to determine the toxicity and relationship between the collected samples and the rate at which it pollutes the water. Atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) evaluates their wholesomeness for human consumption. Four heavy metals (lead, cadmium, copper and zinc) were analyzed and only copper and zinc were found to be present in the digested samples. The concentration of copper in the fish (flesh) was 0.09 mg/l and that of zinc was 0.25 mg/l. In the bone samples, copper was found to have 0.17 mg/l and zinc 0.22 mg/l. In the water samples analyzed, the concentration of copper is 0.035 mg/l while that of zinc is 0.047 mg/l. In the sediment sample, the amount of copper is 310.0 mg/kg while that of zinc is 2050.0 mg/kg. This however signifies that the fish species in the Ogun River as well as the water is suitable for consumption which was found to be less than the World Health Organization (WHO) maximum recommended acceptable limits in the food.