An examination is made of the current situation regarding fisheries planning in Nigeria, identifying areas where information is required to correct existing imbalances. The artisanal fishery, industrial/commercial fishery and aquaculture sectors and requirements for a comprehensive development policy in each sector are detaile

Mabawonku, A.F.

English

Aquatic Commons

INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS FOR EFFECTIVE
FISHERIES PLANNING IN NIGERIA
by
A.F. Mabawonku.
Dept. pf Agricultural Economics
Univer3ity of Ibadan,
Ibadar
INTRODiCTION
It is now almost a decade since conc.erted integrative fisheries planning at the
national level was initiated. The initial plahning effort can Pest be described
as plalning without facts,ideology and philosophy. All the plans were essentially
allocative in nature in which projects were conceived without detailed studies and
budgetary allocations made. Within those years there were more than enough
resources for trial and,error such that failures could be absorbed or overlooked
without any serious repercussions.
While the second and third plans execution were characterized with a high degree
of plan distortion (Mabawonku, 1982) it is important however, that the efforts of
the Federal Government be commended at attempting to implement their programmes
despit.3 such great odds.
But what lessons have we learnt from this trial and error method of development
programing? Answers to this question and the formulation of solutions to them
will be of immense benefit in the tasks ahead especially under the present and
oncertain economic situation of the country. The present state of affairs in
fisheries planning look'very disturbing indeed. A close scrutiny of our past
,and present situation show clearly that a serious rethinking is imperative.
Fora beginning, what are we planning for an for whom? The major objective
underl:Lng agricultural planning in Nigeria (fiSheries inclusive) is the provision
of food and fibre. Towards this end projects regarded as capable of boosting
production are conceived and executed. This Single-minded pursuit of commodity
production to the total exclusion of the welfare consideration of the people
and the distributional impact of such programmes has now been found to fail
abysmally.
That this is so, should not be a surprise to scholars of development. Development
in the true meaning of it should be aimed at increasing the standard of living of
the pe(ple. In other words a development programme must begin by finding answers
,to such vexing questions'as:-
what is the present standard of living of the producers,
what is the health, medical and living conditions of the people,
what are their basic needs,
are they sufficiently well motivated and in sound .physical
state to perform the duty or duties Whicn they are being called
upon to perfora?
Without adequate answers to these questions and prop',arnces designed to meet these
ends manyproduction oriented programhe will inevitably fail. There is a school of
thought, though, which believes tha'.t en increase in output will Iead to increased
income, improve consumption standards and thercf:ore, an increase in the standard
of living of the people. It rray be asked, which people are we talking aboUt, are
they urhr. uwellers who are mainly the vocel elites 5nd basically c&-:snmers or are
they those rural dwellers who have no access to health caro facilities, good water
supply and education? If the ]atter, how can such increase io Incoare tranSlate
into improved standard of living under theeonditions tney work and live?
It is within this treatise that I think answers to the present situation in
fisheries planning can te found. Specifically,a review of our effOrts within
the last ten years shows the followihg:-
25
type of
group
vRc.n i,
r`',Dr
pco1.0,
r
Many projects were planned but not executed;
Infrastructure were provided which mere not utilized;
Projects were started but not completed;
Inputs were procured and distributed without being monitored and so on.
While meY may advance other reasons for this situation the most important factor
is lack of basic infOrmation for programme identification, planning, implementation,
monitoring and evaluation.
For the 80's and beyond Tmation for fisheries development are required for the
following reason. At the r.-mestic front information are required for the design
of prngrammes and policies for the evaluation of tn6 various government projects.
At international scene, much controversy surrounds tbe richness or otherwise of
Nig 's waters. To some, Nigeria's-coastline is barreaand devoid of any
e 7)le commercial exploitable species. To others, the little resource availableis t sufficient to warrant large .scale investment in fishing effort. To another
01-)9 ilbie informatio.1 about the countryls fish resources are partially
nilieading and ,,cientificaliy false. Whatever may be the correct
Ile'Te ir however, ovei-whelmine, evidence that total fish imports constitute
c11-(y a-,,olic, a 'c,11j.P1 of Cish disappeaoance in the country.
irrtiou are requi: 7 t
- of inform =Ltd
i;11.0
cOrrect existing imbalances. In generaal
quired as technical and economic.
hio-chemical research findings that deal
,t,.)ut the species that will help in
.1,3rs that will help in designing
informatjby not being
C&- invest( r, F,ut i.lata on fish growth
,:1:1 the othe,' and be of immense importance.
More 1. GI-10S6 :,7,on-,mic and social information that will provide a
basi: r;k'i,or ince',...tmenc, decision making and government in formulating
meanir pc:g-ammes. For cJassi,'ication purposes let us divide the sector into
its va:'ious componen c.
ARTISAI " PY
NigeriE. f. a dynamit growing society, and every component of itrpsponds both to
sociri- sures and economiC stimulus. ArtisanalTishery in Nigeria involves
mUlloof mall scale fishermen. First, they are-people ((not fiehes) who
have prcJuction, consumption and exchange oppórtunities. Available evidenceLL
(Mabawoi-iku, 1981) show that a majority of them are illitrates; their communities
lack basic amenities such as water, electricity and medical care: they are
susceptible to high risks and are often indebted to fish merchants. Their
production opportunities ame limited by the paucity of their7'technical know how.
Their consumption and exchange opportunities are limited by the closeness and
inaueasibility of their cOmmunities and tneir migratory mode of living.
As r eent, we are, primarily concerned about how much fish-they land and
wha to do to increase their catch per unit effort. Genuine development
prov.Eurne in this sublsector requires more than that. Additional information is
needed in the following areas:-
Goals, values and preferences of the fishermen.
Employment level, pattern and periodicity.
Productivity and income levels.
Rate and pattern of migrations.
Rate of technological transformation (i.e. rate of
increase or decrease in use of outboard engines',
nylon nets, rate of graduation from small paddle' canoes
to larger ones, etc.).
26
Capital formation and investment trends.
Production costs and input procurement methods.
8 Product processing and distribution methods.
9. Living conditions and level»of indebtedness.
There are some of the.multitude of facts that should be provided for any effective
development policy.
INDUSTRIAL/COMMERCIAL
This sub-sector of the country's fisheries is the most elusive. Private
entrepreneurs, governments and foreigners are the major 'operators. These groups
often collude and provide wrong information about their operations to the detriment
of the country. It must be emphasized that the resources.;.they exploit are national
resources and as such they must be subjected to close scrutiny by the people.
What is more unchecked exploitation can create serious problems for the industry
as well as for the generations to come.
In order to effect a comprehensive commercial fishery policy it is necessary that
such information as:
Compliance with regulations and laws,
Level of landing,
Types or varieties of fish exploited,
Employment and wages,
Infrastructural needs and availability
should be periodically provided.
AQUACULTURE
Virtually all the governments in the country are engaged in fish farming either
as a demonstration or a commercial project. Moreover, fish farming is not a new
enterprise in the country. .Yet little or virtually no information is available
except for a few biological research papers. Practitioners of the trade either
at state or federal level have done very little to give us a clear picture of the
state of affairs in the country. Various pond construction methods, various
species of fish and various practices have been imported into the country. Many
have failed, while others succeeded. But lack of information about these projects
has often led to the duplication of failure and the rejection of success. Many
private investors are scared away after discovering that what is feasible on paper
became unrealistic in practice. In essence, situation in thIs sub-sector can best
be described as a zero-datum affair.
To begin with nobody knows how many dams, lakes impounded water and ponds are there
in this countrjr.--Nor is there any information about the mode of production in these
waters. Even in some states where information is available about the number of
ponds, it is often found that over a third 61- more of these ponds have long been
abandoned or are no more functioning at all.
What is wrong with the sub-sector is that there is a general lack of purpose,
objective and direction. No concensus.exists as to the role it has to play in .
meeting the fishery requirements of the country. Macro goals of self-sufficiency
in fish production require that special and more serious attention be paid to
fish cuure. For thispurpose data required for macro planning and appralsal at
micro level have to be treated as a matter of urgency.
Among the requirements for an effective fish culture programme include:
The number, size, location, and potential of all fish ponds, lakes,
reservoirs and impounded water in the country.
Types of production, i.e. intensive, extensive, polyculture or
monoculture.
27
3. Potential and actual production of fries.
Potential and sactual demand for feed.
5. Pródhct levels or yiklds.
Many areas suchs.infraStrUctUre for the sub-sector, its special distribution,
caPacity ete, need to be studied.'Marketing and distribution, orirr. trends are
other areas where little or no information exiat.
Athe'present lï is legitimate to ask what are the methods to be employed in
information gathwing, collation and dissemination, what is wrong with existing
methods) and So on. The honest fact we must face is that no methods exist
presently for fisheries data gathering, storage, and retrival. Rather what exists
are haphazard and inconsistent data gathering methods. The information gathered
by the existing system is neither continuous accurate nor usetjul for planning
purposes.
The 'only existing information source is the fisheties Production Statistics
published by the Federal Department of Fisheries1FDF). At the State level while
there are statistical publications on educationr'nealth, agriculture and so on,
nothing relating to fisheries is ever published even in States where fishing
activities are the dominant source of employment. It appears that either the
fishery sub-sector is not relevant in the scheme of things or those in-charge of
fisheries at the State level attach no importance to data gathering. At the Federal
level, lack of direction and absenee of effective co-ordination result in the
collection of inaccurate and incomplete data.
It may however, be arguea on the other hand that there are many factors militating
against information gathering. Practitioners are likely to mention such factors as
the inaccessibility of the fishing communities, lack of manpower, etc., ,But the
truch is, all these factors can be surmounted'only when it is realized that
information gathering is the most important project that should be embarked on and
that without a data base no project can be meaningfully and effectively executed.
For the'following decade, therefore, it is absolutely nece ry to regard fishery
statistics as a capital project, a project more important than many of those
presently slated for execution. The type of data which we have discussed ahove
need to be gathered on a continuous basis such that by the end of the eighties
the country will have.generated a reasonable amount of time series-data.
To do this, hoWever, requires setting up a completely different machinery and
adopting a completely different approach. First, because of the scarcity Of funds
and bureaucratic bottlenecks at the State level, it may be necessary for the Federal
Government to be responsible for setting up and financing the gathering and
dissemination of fisheries information. This means that data gathering has to be
'regarded as a capital project for which reasonable allocationS are made annually.
A precedent to this is the Rural Infrastructure study of the Federal Department of
Rural Development. Second, there is no doubt that the present set-up of the F.D.F
Fisheries Statistics Division is patently inadequate and unsuitable for this major
task. While it may act as an agent for information dissemihation, the gathering,
processing and collating of data should be taken out of the Division.
For the puposes of gathering, processing and collating of fisheries statistics it
will be necessary to establish a Fisheries Information System Unit outside the
existing civil service structure. this unit shall work in cooperation with the
State Fisheries Divisions, the commercial fisheries sub-sector and the F.D.F. in
carrying out its activities. Information gathered by the unit shall be processed
on a quarterly or annual basis and turned over to the Statista Division cf7-
F.D.F. for dissemination to various users.
REFERENCES
Mabawonku, A.F. tiv00)
fisheries in Nigeria".
Mabawonku, A.F. (1977)
Nigerian J. Agric. Sci.
"Programmes and Strategies for the development of artisanal
Indian J. Agric. Econs. Vol. XXXV. No. 4
"A Structural Analysis of the Nigeria Fishery Industry"
N.S.T.D.A. Lagos.
28
Mabawonku, A.F. (1978) "Fishing Efforts and Earnings in the Nigerian artisanal
fisheries. J. Rural Econs. & Dev. Vol. 12. No. 2
Mabawonku, A.F. and Abiodun, A. The fiscal role of the Nigerian
Government in Fisheries Development, 1960 - 1980. Rural Development paper No. 30.
Department of Agricultural EconOmics, University of Ibadan.
Nabawonku, A.F., Olayemi, J.K. and Ogunfowora, O. Consumer attitudes to
processed_fish and fish products' in Nigeria. ACR-Technical Report No.82,
1 Dept. of 'Agric. Econ., University-of Ibadan.


Information requirements for effective fisheries planning in Nigeria

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