The federal government has said that it is set to clamp down on all illegal fishing activities in the country.
Speaking on Monday, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Akinwumi Adesina, revealed that disturbed by what he termed “fishy business in fishery,” he had directed that “henceforth, all illegally imported fish be confiscated and destroyed and contravening companies will lose their licences and their cold rooms sealed.”
Adesina revealed that while the total demand for fish in the country is 2.7 million metric tonnes (mts), Nigeria was producing locally about 800,000 mts, while the deficit of 1.9 million mts was met by imports.
“Our goal is to be self sufficient in fish production and we will achieve this by promoting greater investments in aquaculture, improving artisanal, inland and marine fisheries.
“Our four-year target is to increase the production of fish fingerlings by 1.25 billion, fish feed by 400,000mts and increase table size fish production by an additional 250,000mts per year respectively,” he said.
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