Nigeria spends N97bn on fish importation

“As Africans, we know of crop farming but fish farming is unknown. As a beginner, when you want to go into it, first of all, you need to know how to start; the size of your ponds, where to get your land, how to get water all year round to keep your fish, where to […]

“As Africans, we know of crop farming but fish farming is unknown. As a beginner, when you want to go into it, first of all, you need to know how to start; the size of your ponds, where to get your land, how to get water all year round to keep your fish, where to get your fish, how to feed your fish, how do you know when they are sick or not, and by their nature, how to handle them. Then how to successfully dispose of your fish? These are the challenges that fish farmers are facing in Nigeria,” he said.
Fish farming is one significant area of agriculture that has been neglected by the federal government’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA). While many nations are capitalizing on their abundant fishery resources to sustain their citizens and make huge income from export, it remains a tale of neglect in the Nigerian agricultural sector.
In Israel for example, fish farming is an integral part of the economy and agriculture. In the last 10 years, Israel has become one of the biggest exporters of fish to Europe, making millions of US dollars net profit a year. The country exports the best quality fish along with countries like China, Japan, and Singapore, a development that has boosted the Israeli economy. The majority of Israel’s annual fish catch consists of freshwater fish raised in artificial ponds.
The former Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Moshe Ram, once observed at a workshop on fish farming in Masaka, a suburb of Abuja, that with the present modern fishing facilities, Nigeria could be one of the top exporters of fish in the world. Ram said that growing seedling, production of fish and export of fish products are in the handgrip of Nigeria.
According to the statistics presented by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina during the ministerial platform in Abuja recently, Nigeria is one of the world’s largest importers of fish. The minister said that Nigeria spends N97 billion on fish importation every year making it one of Nigeria’s top four food imports into the country.
In spite of the huge amount of money spent on fish imports every year, the minister did not mention any government effort targeted at encouraging fish farming in the country. In fact, aquaculture was mentioned in the minister’s speech as import reference only; a development many fish farmers see as worrisome.
On his part, special adviser to Rivers State governor on fishery, Mr. Alapuye Cotterel said that Nigeria consumes 1.2 million metric tons of fish every year, with 85 percent, which represent 800,000 metric tons imported. To this end, “We are thinking about sustaining our demand for fish,” he said.  Mr. Cotterel also said that Rivers State government is taking the initiative to establish fish farming in all parts of the state.
 Pawa Nathan explains that the culture of fish farming is catching very fast among Nigerians especially in the North, although he cannot speak of what happens down South. “In the North, there is admirable degree of fish farming going on. It is very pleasant to notice that attitude here,” he said.
At the Ojella Farms in Masaka, Akor Samuel Edoka, aqua culturist said government has not really done enough compared to other sector of agriculture.