The fishing sub-sector is facing a challenge of foreign domination that may increase job losses for indigenous investors and professionals, MUYIWA LUCAS writes.
Fish is an important item most households’ diet, contributing about 40 per cent of the country’s protein intake. An estimated 13.3 kilogramme (kg) of fish is said to be consumed by an individual yearly.
According to the World Fish Centre, yearly fish production in the country is about one million metric tons (313,231 metric tons from aquaculture and 759,828 metric tons from fisheries). Most of the fish is consumed domestically, while about 10 per cent is exported.
The industry in Nigeria, however, is being undermined be the high number of foreign vessels which poach fish from the country’s waters. It so bad that Ghanaians, other African nationals and others dominate Ibaka, a fishing community in the Bakassi fishing axis at the maritime border between Nigeria and Cameroon.
According to the Nigerian Trawler Owners Association (NITOA) President, Mrs. Margaret Orakwusi, the industry loses billions of dollars in resources and jobs yearly to poachers whose activities she describes as irresponsible fishing.
Blood money
Mrs. Orakwusi, who spoke at the Global Maritime Security Conference (GMSC2019) in Abuja, said proceeds from unlawful fishing in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea should be denied access to markets and treated like “Blood Diamond”.
She added that denial of access to market would not only discourage unlawful fishing, but would reduce the operational stress of security forces saddled with protecting the Gulf of Guinea.
Going by international standards for profiling fishes and other marine resources, Orakwusi said it was easy to ascertain where stolen fishes were sourced from.
Aside fish, Orakwusi said very viable marine resources are swept off the belly of Nigerian waters by poachers who destroy the marine biodiversity leading to environmental degradation.
Basically, there are two types of fishing – brackishwater and coastal.
The brackishwater fisheries has to do with fishing in creeks and estuaries where the freshwater flowing down the rivers mixes with salt water moving up with high tide.
The brackishwater sector, consisting of estuaries, beach ridges, intertidal mangrove swamps, intersecting rivers and numerous winding saline creeks, is an important component of the artisanal fisheries. However, this sector appears to have adequate fishing intensity and its fish catches might not significantly increase with more fishing innovations. But the productivity of the brackishwater fisheries might slightly increase through proper aquaculture practices.
The coastal inshore artisanal fishery is mainly confined in waters of less than 40m depth. This fishery employs large motorised “Ghana-type” canoes which are more durable on surf-beaten coast.
The available data indicate that about 19 per cent of the total national coastal inshore canoes are motorised. During the dry season (October-May), the small dug-out canoes mainly operate inside the estuaries and creeks whereas the motorised canoes fish in the open sea.
The rainy season with storms extends from May to September and the rough sea conditions restrict fishing operations of canoe fishermen in the open sea.
Hence many motorised canoes resort to fishing in the coastal lagoons, creeks, and also in the bar-built and lagoon-like estuaries. In these circumstances, the coastal shallow waters have a high fishing effort during the rainy season.
Concerns
Stakeholders are concerned that the Nigerian waters are being fished mainly by foreigners. For instance, in Ibaka, Mbo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, a region that stretches into Cross River, fishing is foreign dominated.
It is believed that the industrial fishing fleets exploiting the demersal resources of Nigeria consist of the inshore ice trawlers, freezer trawlers and shrimpers. The industrial fleet has expanded rapidly since the early 1970s. The number of inshore trawlers increased from 13 in 1971 to 29 in 1976 and to 52 in 1983. The Polish ice trawlers with an average length of about 13 m make short trips of about six days. Yet, the industrial fleet includes several freezer trawlers of private companies with an average length of 24 m. These make longer fishing trips of up to 25 days.
The ice trawlers and freezer trawlers operate on the sector of the continental shelf between Benin and Cameroon. They frequent areas with muddy sand, sandy muds, muds and sands of depths of more than 20 m.
The Nigerian shrimpers mainly operate in the coastal sector extending from the mouth of Benin River, to the Cross River estuary. The shrimp trawlers appear to make higher catches around estuaries with greater flows.
For stakeholders, such as Orakwusi, this situation is unacceptable.
“To have foreigners invade our waters and feed on our natural resources. When you consider the irresponsible manner with which this is done, then it becomes very unfortunate. There are regulations in fishing.
“For me to be able to effectively export products from my trawlers, my activities are highly regulated by Nigeria, by European Union, by American authorities.
Orakwusi may be right. Several indigenous operators in this field are concerned that before their vessel are even certified and qualified to export to Europe, EU has some regulations that must be complied, beginning from the type of trawlers. These also include testing crews, checking each part of vessels to ensure that it is good enough to get fishing products that their people will eat.
Yet, the product itself has regulations to meet. For instance, when going to fish in the deep waters, the water must be analysed and certified to be free from all source of harmful substance. And all these are for good.
“We don’t have difficulties selling our products. Products from Nigeria happen to be the best all over the world. We comply to everything. For my products to be sold in Europe
“We have to analyse the water where they were caught. I have to make sure the freezing is perfect, and it has to undergo both in-house testing and testing by the Nigerian fisheries lab. Then it’s certified fit. So far, all our products pass analysis anywhere in the world and am particularly happy about that,” Orakwusi said.
Losses
Stakehders say that in defiance to international or local laws, foreigners fish in irresponsible manner, which means they steal from bottom to top because they have nothing at stake in the local waters and they leave and find markets for those products. It runs into billions of dollars yearly. Such activities are said to be destroying the marine environment.
“Something is not adding up very well there. Maritime security is very expensive and for piracy for instance, you are talking about international waters. If the pirates or poachers are winning the war out there in the sea, how do we go back to sea and know some other methods of not encouraging what they are doing; of not allowing them sell their products? Where are they selling the stolen products? Where are they finding market? What banking institution do they use that they are not being accused of money laundering or that accommodate proceeds of crime?
“If we are not able to face the poachers out there in the high sea, we should be able to force the financial institutions to be more prudent to at least ask questions. We have the law of money laundering all over the world. Its not just for the blacks that when you spot fifty thousand, you clamp on the account,” Orakwusi submitted.
Govt steps in
The Nigerian Navy and Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) have stepped up efforts to protect seafarers and fishing trawler vessels on Nigerian waters.
Recent efforts, which includes mobilising other maritime organisations, naval forces, coast guards and multinational organisations to secure the Gulf of Guinea will be navigated by a committee expected to come up with their action plan soon.
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