WORLD Fisheries Day marked on November 21 should be a time for reflection on the key issues affecting fisheries, particularly the artisanal and small-scale fisheries. This is according to an environment based non-governmental organisation, FishNet Alliance.
FishNet Alliance is a network of fishers engaged in and promoting sustainable fishing practices in line with ecosystem limits.
Stephen Oduware, the Coordinator of FishNet Alliance, noted that communities like Kono in Ogoniland, who have used local and cultural means to preserve a mangrove area, need to be recognised and supported.
He said that policymakers must bring artisanal fishers to the policy table to make contributions that will further strengthen maritime policies.
He stated that this year’s theme, “Build Enabling Policy Environments for Small-scale Artisanal Fisheries,” should evoke a sense of responsibility, accountability, equity, fairness, justice, and inclusivity.
According to a statement from the alliance, artisanal fishers must be consulted and included in the preparation of policies for aquatic environments seeing that they hold a lot of knowledge that can shape such policies into pro-people and pro-environment policies.
Nigeria has a coastline of about 853km with Lagos, Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, and Cross River as littoral states. Twenty eight out of the 36 states in Nigeria are navigable by the connecting inland waters that stretches about 10,000km – encircling whole communities in some cases and in other cases, linking one community to another.
Coastal areas in Nigeria face various challenges, such as coastal erosion, flooding, over exploitation of fish and other aquatic resources, marine and coastal pollution, mangrove depletion, and nipa palm invasion.
Across Africa, more than one-fourth (27 percent) of the population living within 5 km from the coast depend on artisanal fishing for job opportunities.
In Nigeria, over 80 percent of domestic fish production is generated by artisanal fishers. The alliance noted that sector as important as this, which meets the animal protein needs of millions of Africans, deserves to be recognized and supported.
Another challenge faced by small-scale fishers is the issue of oil and gas pollution. Oil and gas exploration and exploitation as well as their associated infrastructure have proven to be one of the worst challenges in recent time.
The Executive Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) Nnimmo Bassey, while lamenting the impacts of the oil Well fire that has been burning for over three years now, said that it is shocking that the government and oil and gas companies would allow the Ororo-1 well inferno to continue for over three years off the coast of Awoye in Ondo State without making any attempt to stop it.
Bassey raised pertinent questions following the continuous burning of the Ororo Well, “Huge amounts of hydrocarbons and climate-harming greenhouse gases are being released into the environment. Why is the government quiet?
He said, “This World Fisheries Day offers a good opportunity for the government to have a change of heart and do the needful.”
Bassey also emphasized that the government must learn to work with coastal communities for better environmental management.
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