The Fisheries Cooperative Federation of Nigeria (FCFN) says inadequate local fisheries in the country is responsible for the surge in the prices of fish.
Mr Mashi Sani, President of the cooperative said this on Monday in an interview with the Newsmen.
Sani said that the high cost of fish was also stemming from inadequate feed production in the country and the cost of transportation and storage.
The Federal Government had pledged to end Nigeria’s dependence on fish importation by boosting local production.
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This, the Federal Government said, would empower youth and women with start-up grants in the fisheries sector.
Sani said that there was need for the Federal Government through the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy to set up fisheries input centres to produce fish and fish feeds within the country.
“There are archeries in the country but they belong to individuals which is not enough to meet up the desired fish market demand.
“The farmers who have archeries are insignificant when compared to the fish market.
“We are trying to see how we can set up bigger archery in each of the geopolitical zones to increase fish production.
“This will reduce the high cost of fish feed and cost of sales of fish juveniles to farmers,” he said.
Sani said that with production of fish feeds in larger quantity within the country and mass production of fish juveniles, the prices of fish would reduce.
The cooperative president called for government intervention in the expansion of fish archeries in the country, adding that it was the only way to meet the desired fish demand.
Sani also said that there was need for the government to empower fish farmers through the cooperative to ensure effective monitoring and regulation of fishing activities, especially fish prices in the country.
“Our goal as the fisheries cooperative of the federation is to meet fish demands and be accessible to those who are interested in partnering with the cooperative.
“We are looking for grants from the government for the expansion of archeries in the country; the grants can come in the form of equipment and machineries.
“With government collaboration with the Fisheries Cooperative Federation of Nigeria, the issues of fish and feed surge will be a thing of the past,” he said.
Sani urged the government to build fish input centres to meet up with international fishing standards.
He said that the cooperative had proposed to the government to set up a pilot project and build two input centres in two states of each geopolitical zone.
He said that with the input centres, all zones would have equal supply of fish and fish feed and it would be easier to regulate the market prices.
He urged stakeholders to invest in the Nigerian fisheries and aquaculture sector.
According to him, Nigeria has the site, the marine resources, the manpower and capacities to make enough return on investments in the investors.
“The fishery sector has not been looked into as it is now being looked into by the government and stakeholders.
“With the right actions and government interventions, the fisheries and aquaculture sector will boom.
“When we start producing feed in-house, the high cost of feed will drop and that will also lead to the drop in the high cost of fish” he added.