A fish farmer, Mr Samson Igbafen, on Monday urged the Federal Government to grant credit facility to indigenous fish farmers in order to discourage fish importation.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Igbafen, the Chief Executive Officer of Oze Fish Farms, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that assisting fish farmers would solve most of their challenges and discourage importation.
He said about 50 per cent of the fish consumed locally would be hatched artificially, if government assisted with land and fish feeds.
“ We need hundreds of hectares of land in over 20 states of the federation to build fish ponds.
“ Our government could partner with other countries that are advanced in fish farm production to build an ultra modern plant were fish feeds will be produced.”
He said that the importance of fish consumption could not be over-emphasised, considering the fact that it is one of the most affordable protein sources.
Igbafen suggested that government should establish a research institute in each of the six geo-political zones of the country to develop modern technology of boosting increasing fish production.
He said that even the unemployment scourge could be addressed, if many young people took fish farming as a career.
“Fish farming could be taken as a career for youths as the returns on the business is relatively okay.
“By taking to fish farming, the youths will also be contributing greatly to the growth of the domestic economy,’’ Igbafen added.
NAN reports that recently, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Adewunmi Adesina, revealed that Nigeria spent about N125 billion on fish imports annually.
Adesina noted that Nigeria had steadily degenerated into a major fish and seafood importer after enjoying a relative long history of self-sufficiency in fish production.
He said the hike in duty on imported fish from five per cent to 25 per cent by the government in 2001, triggered price increases which made the commodity unaffordable to many Nigerians.
According to the minister, fish is the most available and affordable source of animal protein for the greater majority of the Nigerian masses.