The Federal Government of Nigeria in a bid to increase fish production through brackish water fish farming requested the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) in 1962 to carry out investigations into the possibility of increasing fish production through aquaculture. The FAO granted this request in October, 1962 and sent an expert to conduct experiments in Buguma, Asari Toru Local Government Area, Rivers State.
In 1963, the FAO expert, Dr. T.V.R. Pillay, his Nigerian counterpart, Mr. S.A. Wokoma under the auspices of the Federal Department of Fisheries (FDF) and in collaboration with Niger Delta Development Board completed their initial assignment; having demonstrated the feasibility of a fish culture project and the urgent need to train extension personnel to assist in the development of brackish water fish farming. Hence, the brackish water aquaculture station at Buguma was established on 25 ha land area. Experiments continued from 1962 to 1967 but were interrupted by the Nigerian Civil War in 1967. Work at Buguma was reactivated in 1970. In 1975, on the establishment of the Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research (NIOMR), the management of the research station at Buguma was transferred from FDF to the Institute (NIOMR).
Similarly also, the need for aquaculture development in the African region led to the birthing of African Regional Aquaculture Centre in 1980 which originated as a result of recommendations of the Aquaculture Planning Regional Workshop that was held in Accra, Ghana in 1975. The establishment of ARAC was also in line with the recommendation of the FAO Technical Conference on Aquaculture held in Kyoto, Japan in 1976 when a world strategy for aquaculture development was conceived. The pilot operations phase of ARAC started in 1979 with the assistance of FAO/UNDP and the project took off in 1980 and was operationally completed on 31st August, 1987. The funding and operations of ARAC became the responsibility of the Federal Government of Nigeria and so ARAC was officially handed over to NIOMR in 1987. The freshwater station of ARAC is located in Omuihuechi, Aluu, Ikwerre Local Government Area, Rivers State covering an area of 81 ha.
Both the freshwater and brackish water stations were from then on referred to as the African Regional Aquaculture Centre of the Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research (ARAC/NIOMR).