Fish Importation Costs Nigeria $1bn Annually

The Executive Director of the Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research (NIOMR), has disclosed that the import bill of Nigeria on the importation of fish stands at about $1 billion.

The Executive Director of the institute, Gbola Akande, said this at an event in Lagos.

Akande, who was represented by the Director (Aquaculture), Dr. Patricia Aanyanwu. He further said fisheries and aquaculture play major roles in employment generation, poverty eradication, food security, foreign exchange earnings, adding that fish farming had been identified as a business venture with lots of potential investment opportunities, making it a veritable tool for increased fish production.

‘’The total demand for fish in Nigeria for 2015 was over 3.6 million tones, according to federal department of Fisheries (FDF), whereas total domestic production in the same year was 1.027 million tonnes. Part of the deficit of 2.233million tones is currently met by farmers.

‘’Nigeria spends about $1 billion importing fish into the country. Our goal is to be self-sufficient in fish production.

“This deficit in fish production can be met through local production, by engaging our youths and women in aquaculture production in a more sustainable manner for increased fish production and better standard of living.’’

On his part, the Assistant Director Aquaculture, Dr. Benjamin Ebonwu, advised the participant at the training which commenced on August 27th and ends on September 7th 2018, to to form a group to approach government so as to access pool of funds through the Central Bank of Nigeria’s ( CBN) Anchor Borrower’s programme for the establishment of feed mill within their geopolitical zone.’

The coordinator, NIOMR programe, Abiola OlawepoJohnson said, “That government should a have data base of unemployed youths in the country, released fund on time and increased number of people that are trained per year.”