Bridging the fish demand, supply gap in Nigeria

Policies put in place by successive administrations to boost local production, through artisanal and industrial capture fisheries and aquaculture production, have fallen short of tackling this ugly trend that has continued to fritter away Nigeria’s foreign exchange.
Fisheries sub-sector analysts maintain that fish farmers and fisher folks have not been adequately motivated and assisted by the government to go all out to the field and put in their best to pull the country out of dependency on Asian countries and others that flood Nigerian market with all sorts of frozen fish.
Some of the imported fishes are said to be poisonous and pose a serious threat to health of Nigerian consumers who, many of them, are not even aware of the status of the fishes they consume.
A former president of the Fisheries Society of Nigeria (FISON), Dr Abba Y. Abdullah, told our reporter that some of the imported fishes have been found to contain some poisonous substances, adding that importation of fish should be discouraged so as to encourage local production.
He said that bridging the fish demand and supply gap in Nigeria requires a lot of commitment from the government and other stakeholders, adding: “Mere calling people to come and invest in the fisheries sub-sector will not work. Proper fisheries policies, adequate laws and regulations, among others, must be put in place by the government to attract investors into the sub-sector. Investors want to be sure that their businesses are protected.”
Another stakeholder in the Nigerian fisheries sub-sector, Dr Abraham Abba Bush, a fish farmer and consultant based in Abuja, also faulted the government and the private sector for not doing enough to boost fish production in the country.
He said: “We don’t have mega fish farms in this country. The government, private sector and other stakeholders are not taking it seriously. If we are serious, we will be exporting, instead of importing fish.”
But the agriculture minister, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, maintains that the government has put in place the right policies and created enabling environment targeted at shoring up local production.
“We don’t have to import what we can produce on our land,” the minister said.
Reports indicate that a new policy thrust fashioned out by the government has mandated companies importing fish into the country to demonstrate their commitment towards local production by investing in the Nigerian fisheries value chain.
In line with the policy, Triton Group, a foreign conglomerate operating in 10 countries, has unveiled its plan to invest about $64million in Nigerian aquaculture in the next seven years.
Disclosing this recently in Abuja at a meeting with the minister of agriculture who is vying to become the president of the African Development Bank (AfDB) presidential candidate, Adesina, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Triton Group, Ashrin Samtani, said the investment will initially take off with $4.1million in Lagos and Oyo states.
The money will be invested in tilapia production in cages, catfish production in ponds, fingerlings production in state of the art hatcheries and feed milling among others, Samtani said, adding: “Triton’s contribution to Nigerian economy through the initiative will be local production of 70,000 metric tonnes of fish annually, generation of 3,000 jobs and foreign exchange conservation of $85million per year.”
He urged the government to create favourable environment and support the company and other investors to achieve their targets.