The Lagos State Government is to partner Ecobank Nigeria Plc in its Artisans Fisheries Value Chain as part of measures to enhance standard of living in the fishing communities in the state.
The Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms Abisola Olusanya, made this known on Tuesday in Lagos.
Olusanya said that no fewer than 8, 844 fishermen had since been identified in 325 fishing villages across the five administrative divisions of the state.
“The proposed artisanal fisheries value intervention will improve fish landing per unit efforts, increased income and enhance the standard of living in the fishing communities.
“The intervention will make fishing attractive and seamless to youths, who in the past, were not ready to adopt fishing as a profession, thereby replacing the ageing fishermen population.
“It will also provide opportunities for fisher folks to have access to banking services at various fishing communities across the state.
“It will also upscale the local fish production in the state; create jobs and reduce rural-urban drift; empower fisher folks; as well as promote availability of fresh fish at affordable prices,” the commissioner said.
She said that the intervention became imperative, particularly as artisans fisheries involved various small scale, low technology, and low capital fishing practices undertaken mainly by individual households.
Olusanya said that the fishermen used relatively small amount of capital and energy, making short fishing trips mainly for local consumption.
The commissioner said the intervention would enable the artisanal fisher folks and communities to access funds that could be used to provide fishing boats and equipment for youths.
Olusanya said that this would enhance their standard of living and improve their businesses.
She said that the artisanal fisheries sub-sector of the state’s fish supply chain, presently contributed 80 per cent of local fish production and provided a major source of livelihood for fisher folks.
“The ministry intends to partner with a financial institution to enable the artisanal fisher folks in the state to access funds.
“This fund can be used to provide fishing boats and equipment such as nets and fish finders for youths.
“Already, a total of 8,844 fishermen have since been identified in 325 fishing villages across the five administrative divisions of the state,” the commissioner said.
Olusanya said that Ecobank had already began the intervention by visiting fishing communities in the state to capture the data of youths in the artisanal fisheries sub-sector.
She said this was with a view to enrolling fisher folks for the Bank Verification Number (BVN) to formally bring them into the banking sector to access government’s interventions like the Anchor Borrowers Scheme, among others.
Olusanya also said that youths were focus of the intervention, seeing that the artisanal fisheries value chain was made up of mostly aged fishermen.
According to her, as such, youths needed to be well trained to properly equip them to take over from the ageing fishers.
The commissioner said that Lagos, being a maritime state, had 22 per cent of its total land area as water, which was made up of a vast network of lagoon, rivers, swamps and other water bodies, amenable for fish production.
She added that the state had comparative advantage in fishing and its related activities, which were major occupation of people living along the coastal and inland water areas.
The commissioner said that fish landing by artisanal fisheries had so far not been maximised.
According to her, this was due to high cost of fishing inputs, obnoxious fishing practices and other anthropogenic activities, which had over the years, resulted in low fish catches and income for the fishing populacenan.
