Nigeria’s bid to be self-sufficient in fish production is being threatened by smugglers, The Nation has learnt.
Lagos and Ogun states are flooded with smuggled fish.
From Idi-Iroko to Owode, Alapoti, Atan and Sango Ota, all in Ogun State, smugglers are using bush paths to spirit fish into markets.
The smugglers, Idi-Iroko border sources said, are cashing in on the high price of fish, which is Nigeria’s cheapest source of nutrition and the most commonly eaten delicacy in many homes, to smuggle the item.
Some of the smuggled fish are Croaker, ‘Kote’, Titus and Sabalo.
The illicit fish business, the sources added, is booming because the Federal Government has discouraged fish importation.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akin-wunmi Adesina, has put the total demand for fish in the country at 2.7 million tonnes, of which 800,000 tonnes are produced locally. The 1.9 million tonnes deficit, according to him, is met with imports.
He said 271 attacks were reported on vessels operating on the territorial waters between February 2009 and September, last year, adding that this led to a drastic reduction in the number of fishing fleet from about 230 vessels to 119 vessels, with only 10 firms in operation in recent years.
“In 2013, a total of 3.6 million juveniles, 36,000 bags of 15kg of feed and 200 water testing kits were provided to fishermen in 10 states, at a total cost of N1.5 billion.”
Adesina noted some illegalities in fish importation and production, stressing that continued corruption in fish import had made Nigeria a dumping ground for fish.
He said fish importers have corrupted public officials to give licences away above their available cold room-warehouse capacities.
The minister said: “Fish importers are cheating and are not paying the amounts due to the government for licence. Even more worrisome is that there is no cold storage capacity in the country to keep 5.9 MT of fish.
“So, what is being imported and declared as fish? Allegations are rife of dubiousness among importers who declare fish for imports, but are actually importing other things, including cars.”
Adesina, however, said the government has not banned the import of fish.
He said: “It is important to make it clear that the government has not banned the importation of fish, as is being misinterpreted by unscrupulous fish importers.
“The Federal Government had at no time placed a wholesale ban on the importation of frozen fish into the country. The only fish being strictly regulated and put under prohibition from being imported without control, is farmed fish.”
Investigation revealed that the smuggled fish is kept on passenger buses and specially refurbished vehicles heading for Lagos and Sango area of Ogun State.
A fish trader at the popular Owode Market in Ado-Odo Ota area, who refused to give her name, narrated the reason they are dealing on imported fish from Cotonou. “I lost a lot of money when the vehicle bringing my rice to the town was impounded by Customs in December. The period was a very bad to me. But in February, my friend introduced me to the fish business and I decided to try it. My experience is that there not much attention on fish like rice, and the profit we make on fish is higher than that of rice. The highest profit anybody can make on rice is between N100 and N150 per 50kg bag, while we make between N400 and N450 on 20kg cartoon of fish,” she said.
She said fish is a delicacy in the country and its demand is so high that ‘business people’ continue to travel long distances from inland towns and risk being arrested to smuggle fish in.
Every Thursday and Friday, she said many men and women flock to Cotonou and other neighbouring countries to buy fish.
Investigation at Idi-Iroko revealed that there must be effective policing of all the paths leading to the border by Customs to check the menace.
Customs, investigation revealed, also needs to do a lot to track down the fish smugglers and stop their illicit business by embarking on effective border patrol as the smugglers are using various vehicles to bring the items to town.
The former President, Nigeria Trawler Owners Association (NITOA), Mrs Margret Orakuwsi, said for a country with an estimated population of 174 million by 2015, the demand for fish would increase to 2.1 million metric tonnes (mt) and with an estimated production of 740,000 mt, there would be a shortfall in supply of about 1.4 million mt.
She said any further reduction in fish supply would cause the price to increase and this would affect Nigerians who depend on imported fish for animal protein to feed their families.
The image maker of the group, Manny Philipson, said: “The argument of exporting jobs abroad for what we can produce locally does not arise as, domestically, we cannot match the quantity, the Omega 3 healthy oils, or taste that imported pelagic fish provides.
“Rather than resorting to protectionism; we should encourage free trade, that is, support our local fishing industry to export more Nigerian prawns and use those export earnings to import cheaper, more abundant pelagic fish species.”
