FISON seeks establishment of fisheries commission
The Fisheries Society of Nigeria (FISON) has urged the federal government to establish a Fisheries Commission as in many other countries to ensure good fisheries and aquaculture governance as well as proper development of the sector.
The call was made in a communiqué issued recently by the society in Abuja at the end of a three-week fisheries and aquaculture governance training organized by FISON in collaboration with the Centre for Development and Innovation (CDI) Wageningen UR, Netherlands.
In the communiqué, FISON also urged the federal government to review the drafted Fisheries Act 2014 to accommodate more details on aquaculture legislation, especially in the areas of certification and endorsement, fines and penalties on defaulters in the industry.
In an opening address, the National President of FISON, Dr. Olajide Ayinla, said the purpose of bringing the workshop to Nigeria was to ensure that participants have a clear understanding of the principles behind fisheries and aquaculture governance, since the new administration in Nigeria is expected to deliver good and participatory governance in all sectors of the economy.
Dr. Ayinla noted: “This is the first time a fisheries governance training is held in Africa and Nigeria is the first to host aquaculture governance training in the world.”
Participants at the training suggested an urgent review of the syllabi used by Nigerian universities, polytechnics and monotechnics in fisheries and aquaculture to accommodate good governance practices and entrepreneurship in order to make their graduates responsible and productive fisheries practitioners.
FISON emphasised on the need to promote subsidies in fisheries and aquaculture at production end of the value chain to ensure that it’s only the producers that benefit for sustainable operation in the sector.
The society also stressed the need for Nigeria to improve the budget allocation to fisheries sub-sector in line with the Maputo declaration on national agriculture budgetary allocation.