Fishermen, seafood dealers urge Tinubu to invest in domestic fisheries

Officials of the Nigeria Union of Fishermen and Seafood Dealers (NUFAS) have urged the Federal Government to invest in the domestic fisheries sector of the nation’s economy in order to attract foreign exchange for the country.

The union lamented that Nigeria’s huge expenditure on the importation of fish and seafood has continued to drain the nation’s foreign exchange in recent times.

The National President of NUFAS, Alhaji Sani Usman Rilwanu, called on President Bola Tinubu to accord priority to the fisheries sector as a viable component of agriculture and the economy due to its multidimensional value chains.

He made the appeal in an open letter to the President, saying that the union, which is a conglomerate of all fish business-related stakeholders with millions of members across the country, is concerned about the problems facing the fisheries sector in Nigeria.

Rilwanu said, “Despite Nigeria being one of the richest nations in fish production globally, previous governments have not accorded priority to the sector for its value chains and economic viability, which could be tapped into to even become a mainstay of our nation’s economy.

“Our findings have shown that some Europeans are given licences by the Ministry of Agriculture for deep-sea fishing, which estimates indicate that their fishing trawlers catch fish worth N50-100 million in a month.

“Over the years, the Federal Government has been losing large amounts of revenue and other economic benefits through granting licences to foreign fishermen who fish in our territorial waters, and Nigerians import the same fish and its by-products they got from our sea back into the country.”

Besides, the NUFAS President explained that presently, “70 per cent of those importing the fish cannot do so again due to the hike in dollar/naira exchange rates.

“Our fish farmers across the federation cannot produce fish locally due to the high cost of fish feeds, equipment, and insecurity at major waterways. While Borno State, which used to supply the whole country with 50 percent of our national fish needs in the past, has now stopped due to the insecurity in the Lake Chad Basin.

“As it stands now, Nigeria, with a population of over 250 million people, does not have enough fish (protein) for national consumption. Our local fishermen across the country lack expertise, modern fishing equipment, and government assistance/intervention.”