It is not a good time for fishermen at the popular Zobe Dam in Katsina State as most of them now struggle to make catches enough to sustain their lives and members of their families.
Daily Trust on Sunday reports that this has also affected the livelihoods of hundreds of fish sellers who rely on these catches for their daily earnings.
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It has also led to high cost of fish in the nearby market along the busy Dutsin-Ma–Katsina Road.
Fishermen and sellers in the area narrated their ordeals to our correspondent when he visited both the market and the dam recently.
The Sarkin-Ruwa of Zobe Dam, Umar Musa, who is the leader of fishermen in the area, said that for over 15 years, there had not been any new breed brought into the dam by any government agency for multiplication. He said although the breed they brought about 15 years ago had averagely multiplied, they were bad and fast depleting because of the increase in the number of fishermen.
“We usually contribute money and go to other states like Kebbi and Kaduna to buy some little fish breed and bring into the dam. But you know we don’t have the capacity to buy as much as we need to make them plenty in the water. This is the major cause of the problem,” he said.
He also attributed the current scarcity of fish in the dam to inadequate water coming into the dam due to seasonal factors.
“Fish is scarce in the dam because they are hiding under the water. But once the rain begins to fall very well, the dam will be accumulating water from the streams. That will make them to come out from their hiding places,’’ he said.
On whether they are getting financial or material assistance from government or organisations, the Sarkin-Ruwa said, “Yes, during the Governor Ibrahim Shehu Shema administration, we received material support that included 10 canoes, nets and many fishing equipment. Apart from that, we have never received any financial support from anybody. The current administration supported us with some fishing equipment but they did not give us canoes. As I am talking to you now, we are desperate because those ones that Shema gave us are old and we are not using them again.”
But the Commissioner for Water Resources in Katsina State, Musa Adamu Funtua had explained that the state government was making efforts to support fishing activities at Zobe Dam.
He said the government created an enabling environment for both the fishermen and sellers to carry out their businesses unhindered.
“We have built a permanent market structure for fish sellers at Zobe Dam, and for the fishermen, the water is safe to carry out their legitimate businesses. We are planning to put more fish breed into the dam very soon.
“I want to assure you that we have heard their complaints and we will do our best. We are also looking for some other ways we can come in to assist them with capital and equipment. Very soon, we will also make sure that we connect the market with electricity. This is part of government’s efforts to empower youths and reduce poverty in our society,” he said.
Sellers battle to restore fish market’s glory
Selling fresh and smoked fish business in Nigeria is one of the lucrative businesses that give entrepreneurs a lot of money with low risk. This is because fish, as a major source of dietary protein, is one of the readily available foods in all parts of the country.
For more than two decades, the Zobe fish market has been operating with supplies from the dam.
However, for some years now, the turnover has been poor because the market operates in an open space and their target customers are mainly locals and passengers on transit.
Other reasons that hinder the activities and development of the market are that for many years, fish sellers have only engaged in selling fresh and fried fish to their customers. They also could not buy as much fish as they want from local fishermen, thus, the fishermen have not been meeting their demand.
Another reason is marketability of Zobe fish to other places due to lack of exposure from the marketers themselves. They operate individually, without any trade union; and they don’t even bother to seek other ways of marketing their goods. Many of them do not have access or idea of fish preservation due to lack of power supply to the market or lack of training.
The fish sellers also said they had not benefitted from any loan from any bank, organisation, or any government assistance.
Abubakar Rabi’u Turare, who spoke on behalf of the fish sellers, however, said they were able to overcome most of these challenges by putting hands together and strategically taking some measures that helped in galvanising activities in the market and increasing their sales.
He said, “Three years ago, we sat down and analysed the major challenges hindering the development of our fish business. We realised that our major challenges were lack of a permanent structure, lack of unity, the issue of selling only fresh and fried fish. At that time, none of us even knew how to smoke fish.
“Other challenges are lack of capital; and even if you have the capital, sometimes the fishermen, who are our major suppliers, don’t have the capacity to meet our demands due to the fact that they are using local traps, cast nets and fishing gourds.
“Also, at a point we realised that we were operating locally. Therefore, there was a need for us to think big on the possibility of taking our product to other parts of Nigeria, like Abuja and Lagos.”
Speaking on the measures they took to address some of these challenges Abubakar added, “On the issue of permanent market structure, we got together and summoned courage as a team, although at that time there was no registered association. We went and appealed to the then chairman of Dutsin-ma Local Government to build a permanent market structure for us, and luckily, they listened to us and built it.
“Some of our members also volunteered and went as far as Kebbi State to learn how to smoke fish. That particular action has helped us, both in preserving our fish and increasing our market sales as many of us are now sending fish to our customers in Abuja and other places. And that gives us more profit.
“Sometimes, if we discover that the fishermen lack capital to buy materials, although we don’t have much, we take the risk to give them cash in advance so that they can buy what they need to fish so as to meet our demand.
“That is why we are calling on the commercial banks and government to assist both the sellers and the fishermen with soft loans.”
On how lucrative the trade is, he said, “Yes, I can say that this business is profitable. This is because as I am speaking to you now, I have built my house. I also have two wives, with over 10 children. And I have a car.
