₦airaland Forum

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has vowed to begin a clampdown on illegal fishing within the Nigerian maritime space. LEADERSHIP recalls that a fisheries consultant for Norwegian Seafood Council, Abiodun Cheke has said that Nigeria loses an estimated $20 million annually to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) by foreigners which are predominantly Chinese.
It was gathered that perpetrators of the crime usually come as close as four nautical miles to the nation’s coast, which was not allowed and they deprive local fishermen of the resources. In terms of value of the shrimps and prawns, it was estimated that Nigeria is losing up to $20million a year.
But, speaking to newsmen in Lagos during the 2018 African Day of the Seas and Oceans, director-general of NIMASA, Dr Dakuku Peterside expressed worry over the unregulated fishing on the nation’s waters by Asians, saying that the agency is collaborating with the Ministry of Agriculture to address the increased illegal fishing in Nigeria.

“NIMASA is working collaboratively with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to address the issue of over fishing especially illegal, unregulated over fishing by foreigners within our space,” he said. On the extent of contribution of blue economy to the Gross Domestic Products (GDP), Peterside acknowledged the fact that Nigeria does not have data on blue economy, saying that NIMASA is looking at the possibility of generating data to that effect.
“The Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) doesn’t have data on blue economy. We are looking at the possibility of generating data to the extent of defining the contribution of blue economy to our GDP. All of this is because we keep drawing attention to the blue economy. We are optimistic that if the blue economy is captured in an integrated manner, it has capacity to contribute so much to the GDP of this country and by extension the economy of this country. So, it is a gradual process and we are achieving a lot of results,” he said.
In his remarks, minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, said that the greatest advantage of the maritime resource is not to the sudden realisation of the economic importance of the seas and the oceans.

“Shipping being the preferred transport mode of international trade connects all nations to the international trade transport chain which further confers advantage to coastal states of which Nigeria is one,” he said.
Also, the board chairman of NIMASA, Major General Jonathan Garba noted that half of the world’s population live within 200 km of the coastline.
He said: “Oceans produce 50 per cent of the oxygen necessary for human survival and therefore the sustainable use and management of the oceans, even its resources is critical to us today for future generation.”

Source: https://leadership.ng/2018/07/26/nimasa-to-clamp-down-on-illegal-fishing-by-china-others/

Front page: Lalasticlala

The navy needs to get out there and regulate. We cant let illegal fishers take fish then cry when our fish import bill is sky high.

Only Africa country this can happen
Drive them back
Shoot them

Blue3k2:
The navy needs to get out there and regulate. We cant let illegal fishers take fish then cry when our fish import bill is sky high.

Unfortunately we neither have enough warships/boats nor men to police our waters.

In addition to the asians illegally fishing in our waters, Captain Jack Sparrow's boys are also very much active in our waters (Niger Delta).

Mere excuses the solution is to buy them. Pirates and fishing boats arent stronger than navy. Small steps in right direction is all we need. We were going to hire Israeli's to police our water for 195 million dollars when we could spend cash on navy.

signz:
Unfortunately we neither have enough warships/boats nor men to police our waters.

In addition to the asians illegally fishing in our waters, Captain Jack Sparrow's boys are also very much active in our waters (Niger Delta).