Minister of agriculture and rural development, Dr Adesina Akinwunmi, has assured that the ministry is taking steps at diversifying the fisheries sub sector from a mainly mono-culture of Catfish to include other fish species.
He also said that greater potential also exists to use by-products to make the fishmeal and fish oil used as feed in aquaculture and for livestock, indirectly contributing to food security, according to FAO.
Other value chains being developed by the ministry in revealed include the Tilapia value chain, Lates Niloticus value chain and the Shrimp value chain.
“We are in advanced stage of negotiation with core investors for the establishment of Large Scale Tilapia Farms in different locations in the country.
“We are aggressively pursuing the fish seed development programme, under a public private partnership, to encourage local production of quality fish seeds, in order to address the shortage of fish fingerlings’ supply in the country.
The ministry has constructed fingerling production centres in 36 States of the country and is collaborating with the West African Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP) in establishing centers for fish fingerlings and Broodstock production. Identified hatchery operators have been trained under this World Bank assisted programme,” he said.
He states that the government is working on promoting the commercialization of fish production under the Staple Crop Processing Zone (SCPZ), in which four of the 14 SCPZs have fisheries as one of the anchor investments.
And that the department of fisheries has embarked on a major effort to revive the artisanal fishing industry, which accounts for 80-85% of the total fish production in the country. For the first time in the history of Nigeria, a national registration of artisanal fishermen is being conducted, including the registration of all fishing canoes.
“This will give the operators an identity beyond the shores of Nigeria, especially when fishing in coastal waters shared with neighboring countries. This will also ensure that the fishing canoes of artisanal fishermen in the country are not used for sea robbery or piracy. To improve the processing of fish, the ministry has ordered smoking kilns, manufactured by the Nigerian Centre for Agricultural Mechanization, for distribution to fishermen and women fish traders.”
