By Nneka Nwogwugwu
The total consumption of fish in Nigeria is about 3.2 million metric tons annually, Prof. Charles Igwe said.
Prof Igwe, who is the Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, said that the fisheries sector has a strategic position in Nigeria, mainly because of increasing fish production and consumption and its contribution to employment and poverty reduction.
The VC was speaking at a workshop organised by the Resource and Environmental Policy Research Centre of University of Nigeria, Nsukka, on ways to improve the fisheries and aquaculture sector in Nigeria.
“About 40 per cent of Nigeria’s protein intake is from fish so putting fish consumption at 13.3 kilogram/person/per year.
“Although below the world average of 20.5 kilogram/person/year in 2017 the total consumption of fish in Nigeria is about 3.2 million metric tons, with 1.2 metric tons local production, leaving a deficit that is augmented through import. Improving output requires dealing with issues in the sector, including reported cases of decline in fish stocks, due to over-harvesting and overfishing (exacerbated by increased investment in fishing) and cases of illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing” he said.
Igwe said that although Nigeria is the largest acquaculture producer in sub-saharan Africa, the sector is still facing a lot of barriers and output per hectare as it is very low.
“The sector has remained underdeveloped and performance is poor, notwithstanding the output growth over the years.
Minister of Agriculture, Dr Mohammed Mahmood Abubakar assured that his ministry would partner with stakeholders for the development of fisheries and aquaculture for economic growth, wealth and job creation as well as food and nutrition security.