Like most countries in West Africa, Nigeria’s coastal waters contain diverse species of fish which contribute to the food and economic security of its people. However, unchecked activities of oil firms and foreign trawler companies have left Nigeria’s fishing sector vulnerable, TOLA ADENUBI reports:
Small-scale fishing operations contribute about 80 percent of locally produced fish and support the livelihoods of 24 million Nigerians. Around 73 per cent of those involved in fisheries in Nigeria are women. The overall GDP contribution from fishing — small scale and industrial — was 0.84 per cent in 2019 and 1.09 per cent in 2020, according to data obtained from the Nigeria’s Fisheries Department domiciled within the country’s Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The fisheries sector is therefore a route to socioeconomic development in Nigeria. But it also faces threats from outside in the form of international fishing companies that poach the nation’s fishing resources; and from within in the form of oil companies whose activities lead to pollution that degrades the maritime environment and destroys fish stocks, thereby reducing the catch.
ILLEGAL FISHING
For indigenous ship operators, the activities of foreign trawler firms, mostly from China has left Nigeria’s fishing resources depleted and over-plundered. Speaking while chairing a session titled “Maritime domain awareness in Nigerian waters and impact on national development” at the just concluded Nigeria International Maritime Summit (NIMS) in Lagos, Chairman, Shipowners Forum, Barister. (Mrs) Margaret Orakwusi lamented the invasion of Nigerian waters by foreign fishing trawlers, especially those owned by the Chinese.
Orakwusi, who is also a former President of the Nigerian Trawlers Owners Association (NITOA), said Chinese fishermen have been noted for encroaching in the coastal waters of other countries without restraints.
She also made case for the creation of a Ministry of Fisheries, which she said should be headed by an expert in fisheries. According to the Shipowners Forum Chairperson, “Europe, America and even some African countries like Ghana have fishery ministries because they identified the economic values associated with the venture. Hence, they appoint someone who is fully in charge of their waters to regulate fishery activities. Why can’t Nigeria have a ministry that regulates and develops this important sector? There is a need for this.”
Despite the important contribution that fishing makes to the livelihoods of Nigerians, government has neglected this sector over the years. This is evident in the marginal budgetary allocation the sector receives yearly.
The Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Department of Nigeria’s Federal Fisheries Department was created to manage Nigeria’s fisheries, yet no budgetary allocation has been made to it in the last 15 years.
“The Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Department lacks patrol vessels, and is therefore unable to monitor the activities of vessels operating in Nigeria. In 2017, the government announced plans to purchase patrol vessels, but it hasn’t done so till date.
“The sector doesn’t receive enough funding to function effectively. Nigeria’s Fisheries Department operates within the country’s Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, which was allocated less than 2 per cent of the national budget in 2019.
“Existing fisheries regulation is also inadequate. Nigeria’s fisheries are governed by the Sea Fisheries Act of 1992. These regulations are outdated and ill-equipped to address the current scale and severity of growing fisheries crime.
“For example, in June 2020, a vessel, Hai Lu Feng 11, was fined just N3million (under $7,300) for switching off her Vessel Monitoring System while in Nigeria’s Exclusive Economic Zone. The Vessel Monitoring System is designed to provide estimates of fishing activity in near real time. Switching the system off suggests an intent to evade detection by the authorities. But this N3m fine is tiny when considering the millions of dollars that illegal fishing costs the Nigerian economy each year.
“Recently, the Nigerian House of Representatives noted that the country loses $70 million each year to illegal fishing. This includes loss of licence fees, revenue from taxation and the value that could have been accrued from legitimate fishing by local vessels.
“So imagine that criminal vessel, Hai Lu Feng 11, being fined just N3m for switching off her Vessel Monitoring System while plundering our fishing resources? Its pea nut compared to what they make from this illegal activities. We need to be more firm in handing these issues in this part of the world,” a source close to the Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Department of Nigeria’s Federal Fisheries Department told the Nigerian Tribune.
POLLUTION
Fishing activities in riverine towns and villages have been eroded by the activities of major oil companies who spill hydro-carbon into the waterways and environment. Speaking to the Nigerian Tribune, Director General of NOSDRA, Idris Musa, explained that aquatic animals are very sensitive to hydro-carbon and will move away from an area that is contaminated due to oil spill.
“Fishes are very sensitive to hydro carbon. Once there is an oil spill in a particular coastline bothering a town or villages, the fishes in that area will move away from there. This means that to get fishes, the fishermen will have to move further deep into the waterways. If the fishes don’t move away from such pollution, they will die. So, in most cases, they move away,” the NOSDRA DG told the Nigerian Tribune exclusively.
Also speaking on the menace of oil spill, Mr. Emmanuel Alumona, a local fisherman in Okerenkoko in Warri, Delta State explained that in some cases, oil spill leads to death of aquatic animals.
“There was a time millions of dead fishes washed ashore along the coastline in most riverine communities in Delta State. This was later attributed to oil spill activities of some oil companies operating around our waterways.
It is not always that fishes move away. At times such spill catches them unaware and they die and get washed ashore in large numbers. In general, oil spill reduces our catch and renders our waterways unproductive,” Alumona also explained to the Nigerian Tribune.
In 2020, about 21,291.673 barrels of oil, an equivalent of 3,364,084.375litres was spilled into the environment and waterways, according to data obtained from the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA).
NOSDRA, while noting that the spill could be attributed to several factors, explained that the bulk of the spill was caused by sabotage and theft.
According to the agency, much of the spill in 2020 was recorded in February 2020, when 6,327 barrels were lost, followed by 4,676 barrels recorded in January, while July took the third position by recording 2,174 barrels.
In August, 1,815 barrels of spill were recorded, followed by 1,596 barrels in April, while 1,262 barrels were spilled in June. December, November, October, September, May and March had 846, 572, 401, 321, 235 and 229 barrels of spill, respectively.
According to NOSDRA, there were around 370 publicly available oil spill records in 2020, which were attributed to about 24 companies. Prominent among the companies was Shell Petroleum Development Corporation, SPDC, which had 186 spills and 13,280 barrels attributed to it.
This was followed by Nigeria Agip Oil Company, NAOC, which had 35 spills with 695 barrels. Eroton Exploration and Production recorded 21 spills with 4,412 barrels, while Seplat Petroleum Development Company had 21 spills with 95 barrels reported volume.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
We Have Not Had Water Supply In Months ― Abeokuta Residents
In spite of the huge investment in the water sector by the government and international organisations, water scarcity has grown to become a perennial nightmare for residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. This report x-rays the lives and experiences of residents in getting clean, potable and affordable water amidst the surge of COVID-19 cases in the state.