NIGERIA. Abuja: Nigerians consume roughly 3.6 million tonnes of fish each year, while the nation only produces 1.1 million, leaving a 2.5 million-ton gap.
The fisheries sector is crucial to the overall growth of the Nigerian economy because it will aid in lowering unemployment, increasing income generation, reducing poverty, providing raw materials, and further strengthening foreign exchange rates, among other things, says Dr. Sampson Umoh, Director, Fisheries and Aquaculture, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD).
At the Second Dialogue and Sensitization Meeting on Fisheries Governance Project 2 (FishGov2) with Regional Economic Communities in Abuja, the capital of the country, Umoh made this statement (RECs).
“The government will do all by working hard to attract private investors to improve its production to meet Nigerians’ needs,” Umoh stated.
In addition, Umoh mentioned that approximately 10 million Nigerians were thought to be actively involved in primary and secondary fishing operations, which increased wealth and production.
Dr. Umoh emphasised that the Federal Government supports backward integration by promoting commercial aquaculture production (pond and cage culture) for local consumption and export, noting that this will provide favourable results.
The federal government has developed measures like the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS), which is located in Lagos and Abuja, to help in looking at fisheries activities like unreported and unregulated fishing along the Nigeria Continental Shelf, Fish storage processing, and Marketing, to achieve its stated goals of putting cogent measures on the operation of fisheries in the country.
Acting Director of African Union – Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU- IBAR), Dr. Nick Nwankpa said that FishGov2 will go a long way in profiling the present economic situation of the country in terms of project implementation to regulate the lingering issues relating to FishGov2 development.
European Union Representative, Eulade Mboneye pointed out that this second dialogue offers a good opportunity to ensure that the RECs have a common understanding of the FishGov project objectives and outcomes, share experiences as well as understand their contribution toward successful implementation.
He, therefore, pledged the continuous support of the EU towards the governance of the Fisheries and Aquaculture subsector in Nigeria.
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