Price of fish may go up - As trawler operators abandon sea

Dele Aderibigbe and Folashade Alli, Lagos - 18.02.2008

PRICE of fish may soon rise as trawler operators have abandoned Nigerian waters in fear of rampaging pirates seemingly operating under the very nose of the Nigerian Navy.

Investigation by the Nigerian Tribune in Lagos showed that a kilogramme of fish which hitherto sold for about N300 two weeks ago now sells for between N400 and N500, raising the fear that lovers of fish may soon start paying more if the activities of the pirates are not curtailed.

A fish seller at the Apapa Wharf in Lagos and another at the Eleja Tutu Market, Liverpool, Tin Can, Lagos, told the Nigerian Tribune that they did not cause the increase in the price of fish.

“What we buy is what we sell. The trawlers are no longer going to sea. You can go there and see where they moored their vessels. The few who ventured out said they usually had their hearts in their mouths until they came back. They said the pirates had taken over Nigerian waters.”

The action of the pirates, according to operators, had put no fewer than 250,000 jobs on the line. Justifying the action of the trawler operators, first National Vice President of the Nigerian Trawler Owners Association (NITOA), Mrs. Margaret Orakwusi, said pirates’ attacks on trawler operators were getting worse, as the pirates now operated with AK-47 rifles and steal fishing equipment worth several millions of naira.

NITOA members have raised the alarm over the increasing pirates’ attack and the victims had written to the Federal Government threatening to abandon the trade if the activities on the sea borders were not curtailed.

The annual consumption of fish by Nigerians stands at about 2.4 million tonnes. About $1 billion is spent annually to import about 1.5 million tonnes of fish while local production accounts for the remaining 900,000 tonnes representing 38 per cent of total consumption.

The increasing wave of piracy forced the Nigerian Navy and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), at a joint press briefing, to explain efforts being made to curb activities of pirates in Nigerian waters.