Towards the end of 2021, a quarrel arose between Britain and France over something that pre-Brexit, would not have been an issue – fishing rights. The issue was about licensing for French fishermen fishing in British waters. In October, the UK denied licences to dozens of French boats.
On December 11, the British gave permanent licences to another five French vessels, taking the total number to 130, and leaving 33 vessels with temporary licences that were due to expire on January 31, 2022.
In return, a British trawler was seized by France in October because it was not on an EU list of vessels that had been granted licences to fish in French waters. The UK government said the trawler had been granted a licence but it was unclear why it was not on the list. The vessel was subsequently released.
Improving Nigeria’s fishing industry must begin by declaring a state of emergency in that sector. The Brexit example I started with showed how serious countries treat their fishing industry
Under a new post-Brexit trade deal (which came into force at the start of 2021), EU members states’ boats need licences to fish in UK and Jersey waters and UK boats need them to fish in the waters of EU member states. Licences are granted to boats that can prove they have fished in a particular area between February 1, 2017, and January 31, 2020.
Without going too deeply into the politics of Brexit and its impact on Europe’s fishing industry, one cannot help but draw parallels between what is happening there and Nigeria’s fishing industry.
According to World Fish Nigeria strategy 2018-2022, Nigeria produces a million metric tons of fish annually, leaving a deficit of about 800,000 metric tons, which is imported.
This feeds into the larger problem of food insecurity facing the country. Naturally, one would expect a country’s coastal states to provide the bulk of its fish needs, but years of environmental pollution by oil prospecting have rendered that an alternative reality.
As such, the bulk of Nigeria’s fish have come from unlikely sources–the North East and the North West.
For years, the inability of the coastal states in the Niger Delta to supply Nigeria’s fish needs was offset by these two regions. When the Boko Haram insurgency began a little over a decade ago, the burden fell to the North West. It didn’t take long for the latter to go the same route, thus leading to a steep fall in fish production.
Additionally, a lot of Japanese and Chinese vessels come to fish in Nigerian waters. There are others too who fish in our waters (because the vessels don’t fly the Nigerian flag), catch a lot of fish which they take to Lagos to deliver as imported, making us “import” our own fish from within our territory.
In an interview with Premium Times in August 2021, Nalaguo Alagoa, a retired lecturer at the Rivers State University described this as an abuse.
According to him, the people who supply the real fish for people to eat don’t go fishing on trawlers, they fish in canoes and specially designed local/Ghanaian surf boats, vessels that go out to sea but they are artisanal.
These people fish at the edge of the continental shelf, and at the edge of the continental shelf, not only is the water too deep for trawlers to work their nets, it is also rocky and uneven at the bottom so that it is not good for trawlers. So, these people go and they use long lines (the hooks on short lines tied to very long kilometres of lines) but today they have a problem, because there are pirates at sea.
The reduction of the spate of street crime in coastal states coincided with a corresponding increase in maritime insecurity.
Pirates have made fishing in the Gulf of Guinea difficult by stealing engines belonging to water transporters in Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and Rivers. This theft also extends to fishermen. Mr Alagoa painted a terrifying scenario:
“Imagine you are 17km away from the land, and they take your engines. How do you return? You are left at the mercy of the ocean depending on the direction the wind blows. If you are lucky, it takes you to Gabon or just anywhere if the boat doesn’t capsize and you drown.
Then if you have your way to return, then you return. That is if you don’t meet cannibals and human parts harvesters that may feast on you or cut you up for sale. Because of these, a lot of people are now afraid to go fishing.”
Read also: BIMCO tasks Gulf of Guinea nations on prosecution of pirates
Improving Nigeria’s fishing industry must begin by declaring a state of emergency in that sector. The Brexit example I started with showed how serious countries treat their fishing industry.
In this wave of economic protectionism pervading some of the world’s largest economies, small coastal states have been at the receiving end.
Many states bordering the Gulf of Guinea, especially Senegal are also feeling the impact of Chinese fishing vessels on their waters but have not done anything about it.
Thus, a coordinated fishing license under ECOWAS is due. Steps must be taken to also address piracy at sea. These short-term solutions will address much of the problem before long-term solutions, such as the Ogoni Clean Up would.
Nwanze is a partner at SBM Intelligence
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