Minister of Agriculture, Adesina…says no ban on fish importation, no dumping on Nigeria.
Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina has dismissed as false, speculations that a ban on fish importation in the country was in place following orders from his ministry.
Adesina, in a press release made available to Africanewscircle.com, Washington DC, by his Special Assistant on Media Matters, Dr Olukayode Oyeleye condemned the speculation as an “orchestrated media misinformation on the state of Nigerian fisheries sub-sector in recent times”.
The release which noted that the misleading media reports erroneously claimed that the Minister authorised a blanket ban on fish importation,
clarified that the claim projecting a total ban on fish import was not true and did not originate from the minister who has emphasised never announcing a total ban on the importation of frozen fish into the country.
It held that a responsible minister will not stand idly and watch Nigeria’s fisheries sub-sector plunge down the drain while financing other nations’ economies through indiscriminate importation, when the home economy suffers further devastation.
“This warrants deliberate corrective measures. To be clear on emphasis, the Circular of 29th October, 2013 which states that all Bills of Lading must be dated on or before 30th October, 2013 and the fish cargo landed not later than December 31st, 2013, did not ban fish importation. It was directed at having a clear-cut demarcation between frozen fish imported under the old regime and the new regulation coming into effect in January, 2014.
The decline in Nigeria’s fisheries sub-sector has become obvious for many years. Since 2005, the Federal government of Nigeria had observed, with
concern, the escalating foreign exchange demand for fish imports, in which the Central Bank of Nigeria noticed an unsustainable surge in the demand for foreign exchange for fish imports by various companies operating in Nigeria. This trend has continued unabated and must not be allowed to continue unchecked”, the statement noted.
It added: “In line with Section 15 of the Sea Fisheries Act, the Honourable Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development has issued new regulations to clean up the abuse in which Nigeria has long been treated as a dumping ground for unwholesome frozen fish. This is in addition to serious trade malpractices associated with frozen fish importation into the country. Some of these malpractices include over-invoicing, foreign exchange capital flight, and ghost import. The Honourable Minister had reiterated that frozen fish importation is not prohibited and that the new fish import policies are geared towards increasing local fish production in the country. The federal government controls of importation of fish into the country with a view to appropriately regulating the industry, putting in place a transparent process of granting appropriate fishing licences, ensuring the judicious utilisation of foreign exchange earnings and reducing the huge import bill the country incurs as the largest in the African region”.
While stating that the fish importation bill for 2010 had been estimated to cost N125.38 billion, it described the figure as “ridiculously too high for a country that is richly endowed with huge natural water resources of 263 billion cubic meters of waters, two of the largest rivers in Africa and a coastline of 850km” adding that the country also has huge fisheries resources that are “culturable all year round”.
The statement continued:
“To bridge the gap between demand and supply under its Agricultural
Transformation Agenda, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has put in place strategies to locally increase fish production and systematically reduce fish import. These include the establishment of the Aquaculture Value Chain and the Artisanal Fisheries Value Chain under the Growth Enhancement Support Scheme. Through the aquaculture value chain, a total number of nine states and the FCT have benefited so far from input supply and 840 fish farmers per state were supplied with 500 fish juveniles (free) per fish farmer and five bags of fish feed at 50 per cent cost price/fish farmer”.
“Under the Artisanal GES, fishermen receive fishing nets, sinkers, ropes and insulated ice boxes for fish preservation, to arrest post-harvest losses.
The Ministry has commenced the process of registration of all artisanal fishing crafts and boats in order to ensure that artisanal sector (which has over the years contributed 80 to 85 per cent of the total fish production in the country) are well organised and duly recognised. The national registration exercise, which is happening for the very first time in the history of the country, is intended primarily to give an estimate of the fishing efforts in our waters, and effective management and security of the fishing environment. It is also to give the operators an identity beyond the shores of Nigeria, especially when fishing in coastal waters shared with neighbouring countries, accord them due recognition and ensure the fishing canoes of artisanal fishermen in the country are not used for sea robbery or piracy”.
This effort, the statement noted, is to ensure maximum utilisation of the resources of that sector while adequately taking care of the operators through the provision of modern landing sites under the Fisheries Resources Monitoring Control and Surveillance programme in partnership with donors and development partners.
“As part of efforts on commercialisation of Tilapia production and other fish species, the ministry is taking bold steps at diversifying the fisheries
subsector from a mainly mono-culture of catfish to that involving other fish
species and to significantly improve upon the value chain with a view to ensuring that producers and processors have significant value for
their efforts. Other value chains being developed by the ministry include the Tilapia Value Chain, Lates niloticus Value Chain and the Shrimp Value Chain. The Ministry is at an advanced stage of negotiation with core investors for the establishment of large scale Tilapia farms in different locations of the country”.
“The Aquaculture Fish Farm Estate Development Programme, which was
embarked upon as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) programme to
encourage private developers, cooperative societies, and interested
individuals to invest in fish farming on a large and medium scale, has
largely contributed to the fish production”, the Ministry explained further.
“At the inception of the programme, some of the laudable objectives include to increase domestic production by at least 80,000 metric tons annually, to generate employment of 35,000 Nigerians through fish farming annually and reducing the gap between fish demand and supply by making farmed fish available to Nigerians for local consumption at affordable cost and for export”.
The entire concept of the Fish Farm Estates, it explained, is being reviewed to achieve the desire under the ATA adding that the results and clear financial commitments by beneficiaries are demonstrated by evidence of co-financing from the Fidelity Bank.
“The Fish Seed Development Programme set up under a Public Private
Partnership (PPP) is to encourage local production of quality fish seeds to address shortage in fingerling supply in the country. The Ministry has constructed fingerling production centres in the 36 states. The Ministry is promoting the commercialisation of fish production under the Staple Crop Processing Zones. Four out of the 14 SCPZ have fisheries as one of the anchor crops. The SCPZ are to address the constraints of the agro-processing industry and drive social and economic impact, offer a superior operating environment for downstream players, while creating a new platform for private sector investment in agriculture. It will also take an integrated value chain approach to address sector constraints, including market linkages, coordinated support, and create a structured mechanism for engaging rural youth. Under the Marine Industrial Sector the Ministry is embarking on the Marine Stewardship Council registration of her shrimp resources and some Marine and Fresh Water Fish Species. This is to ensure optimum market prices for products. The Ministry is also opening up the Deep Sea/Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) for exploitation by issuing Letter of Assurances to companies to bring in deep sea vessels into Nigeria”.
Adesina who expressed happiness that the country has also just been recertified to export shrimp caught from the wild to the United State of America (USA), noted that the local fish producers, especially the Catfish Farmers Association of Nigeria (CAFAN), reported glut of fish in the market during the year, necessitating government’s efforts to search for export market for their products. The glut, he said, should not have arisen in the first place as Nigerians need to learn to eat what they produce.
“On the other hand, uncontrolled importation and imports of large quantities of fish has been used to automatically force down fish prices in the local market, thereby making local producers of fish unable to market their fish. To increase the shelf life, government had to procure 200 smoking kiln as a starting point from the National Centre for Agricultural Mechanisation (NCAM), Ilorin, to process fish. The farmers were also trained by UK-based consultants on how to access the export market.
To further effectively regulate the importation of frozen fish into the country, the Ministry has decided to regulate and monitor quantity and species that each fish importer will be allowed to import in order to ensure that Nigeria is not used as a dumping ground and stop the practice of stock piling frozen fish in cold rooms of some importers for weeks before selling thereby making the fish unwholesome for human consumption. Nigerians deserve to eat fresh frozen fish, not rotten and rancid fish. The health of Nigerians is of prime importance to the government of today. More importantly is the financial implications on the economy due to the fact that the large quantities of fish imported at a time ultimately get spoilt as they cannot be disposed easily”.
“It becomes a loss to the government again. Many of these companies have therefore, year-in year-out, declared losses and so do not pay tax to the government. This cannot be allowed to continue unchecked.
The new regulations are clear of a 25 per cent annual reduction in fish importation into the country and the fact that all fish importers must begin to engage in fish farming enterprises like their counterparts in other parts of the world with the aim of increasing local production and reducing fish import.
Every reform process requires time for planning and time for the results to become evident. Nigerians are therefore assured of fresh and frozen fish in abundance in the coming year. The cheap blackmail will not stop government from carrying out its regulatory role in the interest of the country”, the Minister concluded.
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