Nigeria's Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sabo Nanono, has said that in line with Federal Government’s effort to encourage local production, Nigeria may stop fish importation by 2022. The minister made the announcement during a reception for a delegation from the National Fish Association of Nigeria (NFAN) led by its national president, Dr Gabriel Ogunsanya, in Abuja.
Nanono said the time had come for Nigeria to look inward to tap into the huge potential in fisheries and aquaculture for local consumption and export. He said that measures had already been put in place by the government to action the plan.
“We have to seriously reduce importation of fish into the country. Last year, we issued about one million licences. This year, I virtually cut it into half. I hope next year we will further cut it so that in the next two years we may rely entirely on what we produce here,” he said.
“I know people are saying we can only rear catfish, tilapia and a few other species - but most of the white fish do not do well here. I know for a fact that the consumption of catfish is very high in this country - both fresh as well as smoked . In fact, I was made to understand that it now has an export market; the future is very bright for fish producers in this country,” said Nanono. – Zoë van Rooyen
