EFFORTS are now being geared towards tackling the challenges of sea piracy and other issues, which have threatened the economy of the fisheries subsector as marine fisheries stakeholders discussed in a conference in Lagos last week.

Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, noted that armed robbery at sea should be tackled since the life of the fourth largest non-oil foreign exchange earner was at stake. He said the sector is a key pillar in the economy bringing, aside foreign exchange, food and nutrition security, income and employment generation and poverty alleviation into the nation’s kitty.

Adesina lamented the hardship and even loss of lives of crew members, valuable items such as fish and shrimp products, communication and navigation equipment worth several million of naira at the hands of pirates.

In the past decade, records show that, ‘more than 400 fishing and shrimp vessels had been attacked since 2002 while 120 shrimp vessels were attacked by sea pirates and robbers from January 2012 to date.’

Adesina stressed that the socio-economic cost of armed sea robbery and other vices scared new investors due to increased risk factor in investing in the country, adding that it led to decrease in fish production and retrenchment of the work force.

In a similar vein, foreign exchange earnings, he said dropped with reduction in the number of fishing vessels from 250 in 2009 to 122 this year.

To address the challenges facing the sub sector, the minister revealed that the Ministry will establish two Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) stations in Lagos and Calabar. In addition, he said, “Six petrol vessels had been procured; sensitisation campaign against sea piracy intensified and was collaborating with regional and international bodies to checkmate the activities of sea pirates.”

Participants at the strategy and talk shop, were in agreement that the subsector needs a lot of action to combat criminal activities against the business and leverages in resources to increase the impact in national economy.

Issues like registration of artisanal fishing boats, supply of AGO (Automotive Gas Oil), Kirikiri Dedicated Fisheries Terminal, and Export Expansion Grant (EEG) among others dominated the session.

As the meeting came to a close, a number of decisions were reached and decisions made as follows:

mandatory installation of a minimum of Class B Automatic Identification System (AIS) on all fishing vessels operating in Nigerian waters.

that fishing vessels operators should give adequate information to the Nigerian Navy about the movement and operations of their vessels for effective protection at sea.

greater synergy among security agencies, fishing operators and Federal Department of Fisheries. There should be regular quarterly consultative / interactive meetings among major stakeholders in the fishing industry to promote such synergy and

strong advocacy against piracy, including sensitisation and awareness campaigns should be intensified. Regular raids and destruction of armed sea robbers’ camps, and points where criminals are known to operate from, should be carried out by security agents while security posts should be established at the mouths of creeks (flash points).