FG puts fish production deficit at 2.5m MT yearly

The federal government has said Nigeria records about 2.5 million tonnes deficit in fish production annually.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sabo Nanono, at a stockfish seminar organised by the Norwegian Seafood Council in Lagos, said the shortfall might likely affect the protein intake of citizens if the gap is not closed.

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Nanono, who was represented at the seminar by the Director of Fishery and Aquaculture Department, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Ime Umo. He revealed that the country’s total fish production currently stands at about 1.123m metric tonnes annually. Nanono said annual consumption stands at about 3.6m metric tonnes, adding that the total fish production, including imports into Nigeria, still does not satisfy the national fish demand.

He said the volume of stock fish and stock fish heads imported from Norway into the country is only about 8,000 metric tonnes and that that represents only about 0.4 per cent of the total volume of fish imported into the country.