The Federal Government has inaugurated a technical committee to tackle Nigeria’s fish production deficit, reduce the country’s dependence on imports and strengthen the aquaculture value chain.
The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, inaugurated the 17-member Technical Committee on Accelerating Fish Production in Nigeria at an event on Thursday in Abuja, charging members to translate recommendations from a previous strategic roundtable into concrete and measurable actions.
The minister said the committee was established to move beyond policy recommendations and develop a coordinated implementation roadmap capable of addressing the challenges limiting domestic fish production.
“Fish is an important source of animal protein for millions of Nigerians. The fisheries and aquaculture sector sustains livelihoods across production, processing, marketing, transportation and related services. However, domestic production remains substantially below national demand, with consequences for food security, household incomes and foreign-exchange resources,” he said.
Oyetola identified high production costs, particularly the cost of feed; inadequate access to quality fish seed and broodstock; weak fish-health and biosecurity systems; post-harvest losses; and insufficient cold-chain and storage infrastructure as major challenges confronting the sector.
