Nigeria’s Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy has expressed its readiness to partner with Norway on satellite surveillance of Nigerian waters to combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing and protect the country’s marine resources from exploitation.
The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Dr Adegboyega Oyetola, gave the assurance when he received Norway’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Svein Baera, who paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja. The ambassador was accompanied by the Second Secretary for Political and Project Development, Ms Michelle Hovi.
Baera said the visit was to introduce the Blue Justice initiative, which provides participating countries with free satellite-based Automatic Identification System (AIS) vessel-tracking data through the Blue Justice Ocean Surveillance Programme.
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He invited Nigeria to join the Blue Community, a network of countries participating in the initiative, to strengthen its capacity to detect suspicious vessel movements, identify vessels evading tracking and tackle illegal fishing and other maritime crimes.
According to him, the programme provides real-time and historical vessel-tracking data to help authorities monitor maritime activities, investigate suspicious movements and identify patterns associated with illegal fishing.
He said the initiative would support Nigeria’s efforts to protect fisheries resources, improve maritime surveillance and strengthen enforcement against illegal operators.
Responding, Oyetola commended the Norwegian Government for the initiative and its longstanding collaboration with Nigeria, assuring that the country would participate in the programme to strengthen efforts against illegal fishing.
The minister expressed concern that foreign operators illegally harvested fish from Nigerian waters, only for the products to be returned to the country and sold at exorbitant prices.
“We cannot continue to allow foreign operators to exploit our marine resources illegally while our local fishers and businesses suffer the consequences. The Nigerian Government is determined to bring this practice to an end,” he said.
Oyetola said illegal fishing undermined local livelihoods, deprived the country of legitimate economic benefits and threatened the sustainable management of its aquatic resources.
“The protection of our waters is an environmental responsibility and an economic imperative. We must protect our fish stocks, safeguard the livelihoods of our fishermen and ensure that our marine resources contribute meaningfully to national development,” he added.
The minister further disclosed that the Nigerian Government was pursuing measures to increase local fish production, reduce dependence on imports, create jobs and conserve foreign exchange.
