New Telegraph

Stakeholders to FG: Empower Navy to secure fishers, blue economy

Stakeholders in the Maritime sector has called in the Federal Government to empower the Nigerian Navy in terms of area surveillance, modern equipment and daily overflying to protect the blue economy.

The experts said there is an urgent need to provide adequate security for fishermen, especially the artisanal and the commercials who supply 90 percent and 10 percent of the nations demand respectively, saying that there’s need to train and retrain the fishermen to enable them to compete with the reality of things across the globe.

Speaking at a stakeholders meeting in Lagos to brainstorm on challenges facing the fisheries industry and how to chart a way forward, the Executive Director of the Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research (NIOMR), Dr Sule Abiodun Yussuf also called for collaborations and support for fishers in the country, so as to improve their livelihoods and also harness the potential and opportunity of the blue economy.

Dr Sule said that the aim of the meeting is to really replicate what the francophone members are doing, saying that the Nigerian coast, which is 860 kilometers and about 462 nautical miles, lies the blue economy of the nation.

While speaking on the need to provide adequate security for fishermen, especially the artisanal and the commercials who supply 90 percent and 10 percent of the nations demand respectively, Sule noted that there’s need to train and retrain the fishermen so as for them to compete with the reality of things across the globe.

He said: “The purpose of this meeting is to really replicate what the francophone members are doing, our coast is very bigger than six of the its nations, and if you look at our coast territorial wise, it is 860 kilometers and that’s about 462 nautical miles, and that’s where our blue economy lies.
“Under it (the blue economy) you won’t be surprise that we have crude we have gas and we have fish, and today we’re discussing fish, there’s no type of fish that you won’t get in Nigeria.”
Speaking on behalf of the Nigerian Navy, Commodore Gideon Kachim, said the Navy is ready to participate as a strong stakeholders in performing its statutory duties to allow fisheries thrive on water and protect them from any form of illegalities across the ocean.
Founder Nigeria Women in Agricultural Research for Development, Professor Stella William, said the purpose of the meeting is to begin a dialogue on how to impact on the lifes and livelihood of fishers, especially the small scale ones known as artisanal fishers.
Other stakeholders at the meeting includes, the representative of the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture in the Federal Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development (FMARD), Vice President of the Fisheries Society of Nigeria (FISON), and the representative of the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture amongst others.

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