FG Crashes Fish Prices To Affordable Levels

Millions of fish consumersare heaving a sigh of relief as fresh import quotas for fish issued by the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) has brought down prices acrossthe country.

For instance, Herring prices have come down from N7, 600 to N4, 000per carton. In the case of Horse Mackerel, the price came down to N5, 800 from more than N9, 500 per carton. The Titusspecies is being sold in the marketfor N6, 800, down from a level of N10, 200 per carton. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations(FAO) figures, Nigeria currently has a shortage of 2.6million tons of fish. While the global average of fish consumption is18.7 kilogrammes per person, Nigerian per capita consumption of fish is only 11.2 kilogrammes.

Nigerian fish supply consistsof 600,000 metric tons of local production and the balance is mainly covered by importsof frozen fish. Frozen fish are caughtin high seas by trawlers in Asia, Europe and Russian the major markets from where Nigeria imports fish. Nigerian domestic production consists predominantly of farmed fish, mainly catfish. The varietiesof frozen fish that Nigeria imports are not available in Nigerian coastal waters. Besides, Nigerian trawling industry has been seriously affected by oil spillage, piracy and non-sustainable fishing practices.

“The impact of any major reduction in imports would only mean that catfish will be the onlyvarietyof fish available in Nigeria”, a fishery expert, Solomon Anichebe had said. He hasopined that Nigerians have gotten used to varieties of imported frozen fish over the past decadesincluding Herring or Shawa, and Sardine which are popular in the North, Horse Mackerel (Kote), Sardinella (Agbodu), and Mackerel which are staples in the East and Blue Whiting(Panla) which are favourites in the Western region of Nigeria. Only the catfish has become accustomed to breeding in Nigeria, he says.