By EfeOnodjae
Nigeria is undermining its drive for food security, job creation and foreign exchange conservation through inconsistent fish import policies that continue to favour imported fish over locally farmed varieties, a fisheries expert, Dr. OlukayodeOlubiyi, has warned.
The policy inconsistency, he said, is discouraging investment in aquaculture, weakening domestic fish production and forcing the country to rely heavily on imports despite its vast production potential.
Olubiyi, Chief Lecturer at the Federal College of Fisheries and Marine Technology, Lagos, stated this in an interview with Vanguard, arguing that Nigeria has the capacity to produce a significant proportion of the fish consumed locally but continues to frustrate local producers by permitting the importation of fish species that can be cultivated within the country.
According to him, the continued importation of species such as tilapia, catfish and pangasius places Nigerian fish farmers at a serious competitive disadvantage.
