Fishermen Decry Decline In Fish Production

Fishermen in Taraba on Thursday decried the rapid decline in fish production and expressed worry that this might cause economic problems if not checked. Some fishermen, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Donga Local Government Area, called for urgent actions to address the situation. One of the fishermen, Mr Awual Sani, said that fish production was always on higher side during September and October every year, adding that ``this year is a different and sad experience’’. Sani decried the impact of the situation on the economy of the fishermen, adding that many fish farmers were already finding it difficult to pay the school fees of their children.``The least I make in a day is N3,000, but now, it is hard to make N500,’’ Sani said. Another fisherman, Mr Rapheal Anter, said:


`I have been in the fish business for long, but the current situation of lack of fish in the water is strange”. Anter noted that the situation posed a dangerous threat to his economic situation as fishing was his only source of livelihood. A fish seller, Mrs Hanatu Danladi, equally decried the gross shortage of fish in the market. Danladi said that she use to buy directly from fish farmers all year round and that this year had witnessed gross decline in production.``I used to buy fish worth more than N50,000 directly from fishermen and sell to retail traders. Now it is difficult to get N10,000 worth of fish at a go.``In fact, it is worrisome because some of us depend on the business as our only means of survival,” Danladi said.An agricultural climatologist, Mr.

Timothy Samuel, attributed the problem to climate change, noting that the seasons had been altered by the advent of global warming. Samuel, who is also an agricultural consultant, told NAN that the 2012 flood disasters in parts of the country were due to the effect of climate change. He advised farmers to be conscious of the change in climate, which he said, had affected global food production. He advised the government to sensitise fish farmers on the need to adapt to the current environmental problems. (NAN)