INTRODUCTION

Nigeria is blessed with about 15 million hectares ofinland water mass (Ita 1993) capable of producingover 1.5 million metric tonnes (m.t.) of fishannually with adequate management. Between1971 and 1980, the inland fisheries contributed anaverage of 48% of the total national fishproduction estimated at 486,000 m.t. excludingimport. The estimated fish supply for 1980including import was about 1.5 million m. t. out ofwhich 900,000 m.t. of frozen fish were importedvalued currently at 72 billion Naira (1995 value).

The current overall fish production is estimated at0.6 million m. t. whereas the projected requirementor demand for fish and fish products by the year2,000 is about 4 million metric tonnes. Out ofthis, inland fisheries is capable of contributing upto half of the projected demand if adequatemanagement strategies are embraced to enhanceproduction.

The productivity of inland water resources ofNigeria has been on the downward trend dueseverally to the effect of drought, envirorunentaldegradation and overexpl oitati on on account of lackof enforcement of the recently promulgated InlandFisheries Decree of 1992, Another major factorwhich has contributed immensely to the poorproduction is the generally low initial stocks of fishin the inland reservoirs. This has contributedirrunensely to the low fish catch and protein supplyto the general public and consequently to loweconomic returns to inland artisanal fishermen.

The above situation can be improved and reversedthrough effective management of our water bodiesunder the following guidelines:

CING POTENTIAL FISH CATCH INNIGERIA'S INLAND WATERS

E.O.ITA (14S)National Institute for FreshwaterFisheries Research, New Bussa

Niger State,

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Effective implementation of the WandFisheries Decree of 1992.

Stocking and introduction of new species intosmall and meditun size reservoirs.

Enhancement of fish catch through increasedartisanal fisheries development.

Fish hatchery development in strategic zonesfor increased fingerling production to stockreservoirs and natural water bodies.

Extensive culture development in flood ponds ,and

Encouragement of commercial aquacultu eunder private entrepreneurship.

This paper will attempt to elaborate on thestrategies for effective implementation of the aboveguidelines with the hope of offering solution forenhancing fish catch in Nigeria's Inland Waters.

2. EVIPLE1VfENTATION OF THE INLANDFISHERIES DECREE OF 1992

In Nigeria, the management of inland waters isregarded as the exclusive responsibility of the statesto which such water bodies belong. However, asa result of pressure from the Federal Department ofFisheries and the National Institute for FreshwaterFisheries Research, justifying the need for theexistence of a Federal Inland Fisheries Legislationto harmonize time administration, management,protection and itnprovement of the fisheriesresources in inland waters, the Federal Governmenthas recently promulgated the Inland FisheriesDecree No.108 of 1992.

It was observed that although inland waters arewithin States boundaries and therefore should besubject to State Legislation, some of the watersusually traverse more than one State, therefore,action or lack of action by one state could haveprofound effect on the fishery resources, fishingand fish Iri11 in another State. Also migrantfishermen often cross state boundaries usingunlawful methods to capture fish. Besides, thedumping of poisonous pioduets of industrial wastesin one state which does not place priority onfisheries can lead to mass destruction of valuablefishery resources downstream in another Statewhere fishing may be of high priority. The aboveevidence truly justified the existence of a CentralFederal Legislation.

The promulgation of dae Federal Inland Fisheriesdecree of 1992 is only a means to an end ofhaphazard exploitation rather than an end itself.The ultimate goal is to enforce the law and makeit effective.

2.1 Implementation Strategy

During the recently organized workshop on InlandFisheries Development by the Federal Departmentof Fisheries, in Collaboiation with the World Bank,it was resolved that the thrust of enforcementaetivities should be preventive in nature rather thanpunidve. Fishermen should be educated on theprovisions of the decree. States would be expectedto act as implementing agents to the FederalGovernment through direct or external funding.The Federal Department of Fisheries (FDF) wouldbe expected to cost the projects state by state andshould establish a Unit known as Inland FisheriesMonitoring, Control and Surveillance Unit(IMCSU) which will co-ordinate the activity of theState linplementation Unit (SIU).

The FDE and States should sign a Memorandum ofunderstanding (MOU) for research support on thestate of fish stocks.

One major prerequisite will be the identification ofthe total number of boats and fishermen operating

15

in all the water bodies of the State in question. Inaddition, Statistics of daily/monthly / anrmal fishlandings in all the water bodies in th.e State wouldhave to be collected on a regular basis.

The statistics are relevant for the:

identification of true fishermen, both boatowners and assistants during the process ofregistration.

identification of the type of fishing gears andmethods cu_rrently being practiced byfishermen in different water bodies.

implementation of development incentivessuch as supply of inputs to fishermen onrevolving loan basis. (Scheme)

organization of fishermen into viableeconomic units or cooperatives for increasedfinancial assistance.

The survey could be contracted out to a privateagency or to any of the national Fishery ResearchInstitutes in the country.

The Resource 1\ifonitoring, Control and SurveillanceUnit (IMCSU) would incorporate an inspectorateunit of fishery guards separate from field extensionstaff. Often in States that have promulgated theirfisheries edicts, field extension staff are used toenforce the Edicts, collect licensing fees as well asfisheries statistics records. The combination ofedict enforcement and licensing with extensionduties often leads to friction between the fishermenand their extension operators.

It should be noted that whereas Control audSurveillance Unit is revenue yielding and selfsustaining, the extension unit does not generaterevenue and is therefore wholly supported bygoverrunent. The cost and benefit for establishinga fishery inspectorate unit in any state in Nigeria isshown. in Table 1.

TABLE 1 FINANCIAL REQUIREMENT FOR ESTABLISHING A FISHERY INSPECTORATEUNIT IN_A STATE IN NIGERIA WITH A MINIMUM OF 5,000 FISHERATEN ANDAN AVERAGE OF ONE GUARD FOR 1,000 FISHERMEN (MODIFIED FROM ITA1993)

Capital Input Amount Us dollars

Outboard engines (5)Motor cycles (5)Boats (5)Weighing balance (5)Miscellaneous items

Sub-Total

Recurrent Cost

Wages (5 guards & 5 assistants)AllowancesVehicle and Engine maintenanceand running costPublicityMiscellaneous expenses

Sub-Total

A licensing fee of 10 d.ollars a year may appear toohigh for artisanal fishermen but because of thecurrent high price of fish in every part of thecountry estimated at an average of N50.00 per kg.a fisherman landing a minimuni of 5kg of fishdaily for 250 days in a year makes a revenue ofabout N62,500.00 a year. A catch of 5kg a day isregarded as off-seasou catch and daring activefishing season, some fishermen catch between 10 -20 kg of fish daily with annual income of betweenN125,000 and N250,000.

Details of field operations involving publicity,application for license, inspection of license andcatch, regisu-ation of fish retailers and distributorsand inspection of processing and preservationdepots would be outlined by the implementationagency jointly with State Implementation Unit(SI U ) .

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25,0005,0002,500

500500

33,500

3,0004,000

3,0002,0001,000

13,000

Grand Total Expenditure 46,500

Projected Revenue

Licensing of 5000 fisherraen at 10 dollars/year = 50,000 dollars.

3. STOCKING OF SMALL AND MEDIUMSIZE WATER BODIES

The objective of this strategy is to increase andsustain production in small and medium waterbodies including reservoirs in different parts of thecountry currently understocked or over fished.

It involves detailed resource survey of the waterbodies to determine the fish species composition,abundance, distribution and standing stock. Thiswill enable appropriate decisions to be taken on themodalities for pre-treatment before stocking. Amanagement plan for the water body will then beformulated to ensure enhanced sustained fish yield.

A management model for private ownership ofsmai and medium size reservoirs in some northernStates of Nigeria was proposed (Ita 1986) under the

title: "Investment prospects in inland capturefisheries: Exclusive fishing right license model."This shows that in small reservoirs owned byWater Corporations and other agencies anyinvestment in stocidng and management of thewater bodies could be recovered with wide profitmargin after two years of the investment.

This project could also be considered under thenational economic recovery of the FederalGovernment under direct or external sponsorship.The estimated cost of the project including surveyand stocidng of an estimated 25 water bodies infive zones of the country was put at about 7milliort U.S. dollars.

4. ENHANCE1VIENT OF FISH CATCHTHROUGH FISHERIES DEVELOP1VIENT.

One of the identified constraints to increasedartisanal fish landing in inland fisheries is the highcost of fishing inputs such as outboard engines,nets etc. Although fishermen in big lakes andreservoirs are capable of landing substantial

17

quantities of fish daily, they lack the requisitecapital for acquiring the major inputs. Governmentintervention through direct assistance or throughloans from international agencies is needed to assistfishermen acquire their inputs for fishing.

Currently some agencies (e.g. IFAD, FAO,ECOWAS etc.) are operating loan schemes forartisanal fishermen both along the Coast audinland waters. Such assistance should beencouraged and the fishing gears supplied in kindshould be the approved mesh sizesfor sustained exploitation. Table 2, 3 and 4 showthe financialanalysis of such input supply to fishermen indifferent water bodies in Nigeria.

Table 2: Loan Package For Fishermen In Small Rivers, Reservoirs And Lake

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HOOKSNo. 14 - 16 10 pkts 50.00 500.00

7- 8 5 50.00 250.00750.00

TWINE210D12, 3 & 6 8 100.00 800.00210D19 & 12 5 100.00 500.00210D124 -36 3 100.00 1,600.00

MOUNTING ROPECord No. 6 - 8 5 50.00 250.00

9-12 40 50.00 2,000.002,250.00

FLOATSLead sheets 40 20.00 800.00

30 50.00 1,500.002,300.00

Total for Fishing Gear 20,900.00

OTHER EQUIPMENTKnives 1 50.00 50.00Matehet 200.00 200.00

250.00

Total Capital Cost 22,650.00plus 10% Contingency 2,265.00Grant total 24,915.00

A. CAPITAL COST

CAFT QUANTITY UNIT COST TOTALCOST

Fishing Canoe (3.6m) 1 1,500.00 1,500.001,500.00

FISHING GE 4. 1,

Nets 210D/2-3176-100mm 2 4,000.00 8,000.00210D/3-6127-152mm 6,000.00 6,000.00

14,000.00

B. RECURRENT COST/YEAR

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a) Wages (fishermen)b) Maintenance at 10% cost:

Fishing gearOther equipment at 10%cost

c) Interest on capital at 15%Sub-Total

d) Contingency at 10%Total Recurrent Cost

2 12,000 24,000.00

2,090.00

25.003,738.00

29,853.002,985.00

32,838.00

C. REVENUE ESTEVIATES

Fishing Effort Fish Landing

Days/Months

No. ofMonths

TotalDays/year.

Catch/Day(kg)

TotalCatch(kg)

Fishing seasonOff seasonTotal

TotalRevenue atN30/kg

2513

4

8

100104204

105

1,000520

1,520

45,600.00

NO COTAL COSTITEIV1 UNIT COST

Table 3. Loan Package for Fishermen in Major Rivers (Cross River, Niger and Benue)

COST

CRAFTCanoe 5.5-7.5Out Board Engine (5-8HP)

Total Capital Costsplus 10% ContingencyGrant total Capital Cost

QUANTITY UNIT COST

1

1

3

2

2,50060,000

4,0006,000

20050

300

TOTAL COST

2,500.0060,000.0062,500.00

12,000.0012,000.0024,000.00

200.00100.00300.00600.00

N95,900.009,590.00

N105,490.00

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HOOKS (Packets x 100)No. 14 - 16 10 50 500.00" 7- 8 5 50 250.00

750.00TWINE210D/2, 3 & 6 12 100 1,200.00210D/9& 12 8 100 800.00210D/24 -36 3 100 300.00

2,300.00MOUNTING ROPECord No. 6 - 8 5 50 250.00

9-12 50 50 2,500.002,750.00

Floats 50 20 1,000.00Lead sheets 30 50 1,500.00Other items (bouys) 10 50 500.00

3,000.00Total for Fishing Gear 32,800.00

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A. C ITAL COST; I

A,FISHING GENylon Netting (100 yds x 400meshes):

210D/2-3, 76-200mm210D13-6, 127-152mm

MENTOTIUI R EQMatchetKnives

e. Lantern

B. RECURRENT COST/YEAR

C. REVENUE ESTIMATES

Fishing Effort Fish Landing

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ITEM NO uNn COST COTAL COST

a) Wages (fishermen)b) Fuel (litres)c) Maintenance

i. Engine at 20% costii. Gear at 10% costiii. Other equipment at 10%

costd) Interest on capital at 15%

Sub-Totale) Contingency at 10%

Total Recurrent Cost

2

200012,00011.00

24,000.0022,090.00

12,000.003,280.00

60.0015,824.0077,164.007,716.00

84,300.00

Days/Months

No. ofMonths

TotalDays/year.

Catch/(kg)

TotalCatch(kg)

Fish SeasonOff SeasonTotal

Total Revenueat N40/kg

2520

8

420080

280

15

73,000

5603,560

42,400.00

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TABLE 4. Loan package for Fishermen in Major Lakes(Kainji, Jebba and Shiroro etc.)

Ci.,..EITAL COST QUANTITY UNIT COST TOTALCOST

CRAFTa) Canoe 7 - 9m 1 2,500.00 2,500.00b) Out board engine 15HP 1 90,000.00 90,000.00

92,500.00

FIS G GEAR

Nylon Netting (100 yds x 400meshes210D12-3,76-100mm meshes 3 4,500.00 13,500.00210D/3-6,127-153mm 3 4,500.00 13,500.00210D/24, 20.5-30.5cm " 1 8,000.00 8,000.00

35,000.00HOOKS (pkts x 100)No. 14 - 16 10 50.00 500.00" 7- 8 5 80.00 400.00" 1 - 3 2 100.00 200.00

1,100.00TW210D/2, 3 & 6 20 100.00 2,000.00210D19& 12 15 100.00 1,500.00210D/24 -36 5 100.00 500.00

4,000.00MOUNTING ROPE(Hanks)Cord No. 6 - 8 5 50.00 250.00

9-12 100 50.00 5,000.005,250.00

FLOATS (Rolls x 25) 50 20.00 1,000.00Lead sheets (20.5x30.5cm) 50 50.00 2,500.00Other items (bouys) 10 50.00 500.00

4,000.00

Total for Fishing Gear 49,350.00

OT I R EQUIP NT 1 200.00 200.00Matchet 2 50.00 100.00Knives 300.00 300.00Lantern 600.00

Total Capital Cost 142,450.00

B. RECURRENT COST (Per Annum)

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QUANTITY UNIT cosT TOTALCOST

a. Wages (fishermen) 3 15,000 45,000.00b. Fuel (litres) 3,000 11 33,000.00c. Lubricant (litres)d. Maintenancei. Engine plus spares at 20% cost

100

-

100

-

10,000.00

18,000.00ii. Fishing gear at 10% cost 5,000.00iii.Other equipment at 10% cost 60.00

e. Interest on capital at 15% cost21,368.00

Sub-Total 132,428.00

0 Contingency at 10% 13,243.00Total Recurrent Cost 145,671.00

C. REVENUE ESTEVIATES

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(#)

Fish SeasonOff SeasonTotal

TotalRevenue atN40/kg

2520

8

420080

280

2010

4,000.00800.00

4,800.00

192,000.00

Fishing Effort Fishing Landing

No. of Total Catch/ TotalDays/ Months Days per Day Catch(kg)Months year. (kg)

TABLE 5: Profit and Loss Account for the Different Packages

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TABLES

2 3 4

YEAR 1Capital Investnrient 24,915 105,490 142,450Recurrent Expenditure 32,838 84,880 145,671Total Investment 57,753 190,370 288,121

YEAR 2

Total Revenue 45,600 142,400 192,000Profit/Loss -12,153 -47,970. -96,121

Recurrent Expenditure 32,838 84,880 145,671Total Revenue 45,600 142,400 192,000

Profit/Loss 12,762 57,520 46,329

4.1 Credit Administration

4.1.1 Qualification for Loan

Beneficiaries of a revolving loan scheme must bewell established and well known fishermen in theCommunity. Tbey may or rnay not belong torecognized fishery cooperatives but must have asone of their guarantors the Chief Fisherman of thevillage. In the Kainji Lake Scheme of the earlyeighties the bonafide fishermen were guaranteed bythe Chief Fisherman of the village and two otherwell known niembers of the community.Affiliation to a viable fishermen cooperative is ofdefinite advantage.

4.1.2 1`,Iature of Loan

The loan umst be in kind, i. e. all items listed in thepackages are procured in quantity and supplied toth.e fishermen. In the 1980 Kainji Model, PackageNos. 2 and 4 were adopted and all items weresupplied in kind to the tune of about N2,800.00 forpackage No. 4 at tb.e current market prices of theitems. It should be noted that at that time themarket value of the most valued fish (Lates) wasabout N2.00 per kilogram whereas the same fishnow sells for about N100.00 per kilogram.Similarly 1514P outboard engine which was sold atN800.00 at the time now sells for over N80,000.00.

4.1.3 Loan Repayment

Loan repayment could be in cash or kind. In the1980 Kainji Lake Model, loan repayment was inkind and an agreed percentage of the daily catchwas collected and sold to staff to recover the cash.That could be acceptable on experimental scale.

Table 6:

Project Total Total Yr. 1Package Units Investment

2 1,000 (N30M) 1251,000 (N18011,1) 125

Grand Total

Investment US $ = $2.22 million

Yr. 2 Yr.3 Yr. 4 Yr.5

175 250 250 200175 250 250 200

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However, in view of the current magnitude of theloan capital involved, repayment in kind may notbe advisable. A financial institution such as theNigerian Agricultural Cooperative Bank (NACB)could be identified to administer the loan.Repayment based on agreed percentage of catchcould be collected weekly on market days. Thefishermen should be allowed to process and sell hisfish on market days or on daily basis fresh to fishmongers and repay the loan weeldy.

It should be noted that loan repayment with fishrequires a lot of investment in storage, processingand marketing by the donor agency and thereforecould be laborious with high investment cost.

Table 5 shows that notwithstanding the high capitalcost, the loan in packages 2, 3 and 4 could berepaid in 2 - 3 years with effective achuinistration.

4.1.4 Loan Servicing

Loan servicing like resource monitoring involvesoverhead cost depending on the number ofbeneficiaries. In the Kainji experimental model.,only 20 beneficiaries were involved at twodifferent landing sites. Fishennen were expected toland fish daily at the landing sites and surrender25% of their catch as loan repayment. In anexpanded model involving upwards of 1.000fishernien per package with a project lifespan of 5years (Table 6), servicing cost could be enormousand should be included as an item of cost in therepayment schedule to make it a bit more attractiveto the servicing agency (i.e. the bank). A

minimum of 10% servicing charge could be addedto the recurrent expenses in addition to the 10%contingency cost.

FISH HATCHERY DEVELOPMENT

Enhancement of fish stocks in small and mediumsize water bodies will necessarily require massivesupply of fish fingerlings which cannot besustained from wild sources only in view of thecurrent low fish production in most water bodies.There would therefore be the need for thedevelopment of fish hatcheries at different zones ofthe country to support the stocking project. For astart, only Tilapia production in outdoor breedingponds should be encouraged because of the lowlevel of technology involved in Tilapia production.

Recent national diagnostic survey by the NationalInstitute for Freshwater Fisheries Research revealedthat out of the existing 88 hatcheries identified indifferent parts of the country, 45 are governmentowned and most of them are not functional.Where facilities already exist, outdoor ponds inexistence at the different locations could be putinto effective use for Tilapia fingerling productionfor stocking nearby water bodies. Production ofother species requiring indoor facilities could beconsidered on long term basis on account of thehigh technology involved for such production. Ifall the water bodies could be adequately stockedwith Tilapia and the production sustained, fishsupply from inland sources would be significantlyincreased.

EX I ENSIVE CULTURE DEVELOPMENTIN FLOOD PONDS AND LAGOONS

Flood ponds are natural ponds along depressedbanks of rivers. They are filled with water duringhigh flood and at flood recession the ponds are leftbehind with juvenile fish spawned within the floodplain These ponds range in surface areas ftom0.1ha to over 10 ha. Ita (1993) has discussed indetail the extent and management of such floodponds in the major river basins of Nigeria e.g.Sokoto Rima River Basin; Niger Kaduna RiverBasin; Niger Benue Basins; Cross River Basin;Anambra Imo River Basins; Hedeja Nguru;Kamadugu Yobe River Basins; Ogun and OsunRiver Basin; Chad Basin etc. In all tbe majorrivers and their tributaries, flood ponds are foundand various traditions exist for their ownership andexploitation.

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In some of the river basins, the ponds arecommunally owned and fished at regular intervalswhile in others diey are owned by individuals,families and traditional rulers. The ponds areprotected from pouching until the peak of the dryseason when they are drained either bychannelization or by pumping out the water toharvest the fish. Production is usually low rangingfrom 100 - 200 kg per ha/year.

These ponds retain water for over 5 months and ifwell managed by stocking and fertilization withorganic manure, mostly cow dung or chickenmanure, production could be doubled or tripled.Between the Niger and Anatnbra rivers, there arean estimated 52 large perennial ponds and lakeswith a total surface area of 1650 ha (Skoup andNippon 1977) giving an average of 32 ha/pond..Under the management of the then Anambra ImoRiver Basin Development Authority, a productionrate of about 860 kg/ha was achieved for a total of4.3 ha surface area. There are several hundredthousands of hectares of such flood ponds all overthe country which production can be increased toa minimum of 500 kg/ha/year. These couldsubstantially increase fish production and catch atthe peak of the dry season in all parts of thecountry.

There is the need for the establishment of aNational Aquaculture Development Agency(NADA) with functions similar to those of theNational Agricultural Land Development Authority(NALDA). This Agency could assist the localinhabitants around flood plain areas in themanagement of their ponds and also subsidize theexcavation of ponds for prospective conunercialfish farmers.

PROMOTION OF COIVIMERCIALAQUACULTURE

A national diagnostic survey of water resources ofNigeria carried out in 1983 revealed the existenceof about 2,000 ha of ponds under cultivation withanother 836 ha under construction at the time ofthe survey and a total of about 2,700 ha proposedfor excavation (Ita et al, 1985).

In 1994 a national diagnostic survey of aquaculturedevelopment in Nigeria was conducted by the

National Institute for Freshwater FisheriesResearch, New Bussa. The survey revealed thatthere has been general awareness of profitability offish farming in the country within the last decadecompared with the situation in the previous threedecades. It was noted that about 80% of all theexisting fish farms in each of the 30 States andAbuja were developed within the last decade.Also, 70% of all the existing fish ponds in thecountry could be classified as small scale orhomestead in nature with sizes below 0.1 ha insurface area. About 20% are medium scale withsurface areas ranging between 0.1 - 1.0 ha and onlyabout 10% are large scale with surface areas ofover 1.0 ha.

During the 1983 survey, about 93% of the existingfarms then measured over 1.0 ha in surface areaand less than 1.0% were small scale farmsmeasuring below 0.1 ha. There has been anupsurge in the ownership of small homestead fishponds in all the States of the federation within thelast 10 years. This trend although encouraging hasnot significantly increased the total surface area offish ponds in the country. The trend is only areflection of the depressed economy and theextremely high construction cost of large fishfarms. In 1985 it was possible to construct a pondof 1.0 ha for less than N10,000.00 (Ten thousandNaira). Currently the same pond could cost overN150,000.00 (One hundred and fifty thousandNaira) to construct.

If Nigeria is to be self sufficient in fish productionthrough aquaculture development, a total of about1 million hectares of water surface area must becultivated to produce a minimum of 1 millionmetric tonnes of fish annually (i.e. estimating at aminimum production of 1 metric tonne per hectareper year).

If a minimum of 1000 private fish farmers, eachmanaging about 5 hectares fish farm, could bemobilized in each State including Abuja, a totalproduction of over 450,000 m. t./yr of fish could beachieved estitnating at a production rate of 3

m. t. /ha/year.

Many prospective fish farmers are currently shyingaway from the profession on account of extremelyhigh construction cost of fish ponds. Hence the

28

general trend is to own a small homestead fishpond close to the family house and manage it as ahobby.

The establishment of a National AquacultureDevelopment Agency earlier proposed vvith

subsidized equipment hiring rate would go a longway in encouraging increased investment in largefish farms Also school leavers with loans f-romthe Directorate of Employment would settle downto practice fish farming in addition to arablefarming much better than they are doing currently.A pond once developed becomes a life investmentwhereas an arable farm is a temporary investmentwhich could be abandoned after one farmingseason.

8. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

The low fish production and catch in Nigeria'sInland Waters has been attributed to the followingfactors:

the effect of drought, environmentaldegradation and overexploitation on accountof lack of enforcement of the Inland FisheriesDecree of 1992.

the generally low initial fish stocks in inlandreservoirsparticularly those constructed acrossseasonal rivers.

the extremely high cost of fishing inputs usedby artisanal fishermen and lack of capital toprocure them.

the low fish production from aquaculturesector on account of high construction cost.

The following solutions have been proffered tobring about substantial improvement both inproduction and actual fish catch by the fishermen:

Implementation of the Inland Fisheries Decreeof 1992 in collaboration with the States. Thisis to be initiated with a survey to identify thetotal number of fishermen and boats in all thewater bodies in each state, followed by thesetting up of a Resource Monitoring, Controland Surveillance Unit (IMCSU) for edictenforcement.

Stocking and introduction of new species intosmall and mediuni size reservoirs to enhancefish production and catch. This is to beinitiated with a diagnostic survey to identifyall the prospective reservoirs in. the countryfollowed by a resource survey to identify thespecies composition and standing stock of fishin the selected reservoirs prior to stocking.

9 Enhancement of fish catch through increasedartisanal fisheries development with directGovernment intervention by grandng loans tofishermen in kind and encouragement ofassistance by international agencies.

Fish hatchery development to produce fishfingerlings needed to stock small and mediumsize water bodies and for intensive culturedevelopment.

Extensive culture development in flood pondsto be initiated by a diagnostic survey toidentify all suitable areas for the developmentof flood ponds. The establishment of aNational Aquaculture Development Agency(NADA) will facilitate such development andprovide equipment hiring services forprospective fish farmers.

Promotion of commercial aquaculture throughidentification of suitable sites, acquisition andsubsidized development of farm (ponds) forprospective fish farmers by (NADA).

29

If the above proposals are well executed withresearch support from the national institutes, fishproduction and landings by artisanal fishermen willbe significantly increased in inland watersnationwide.

9. REFERENCE

Ita, E.O. (1993) Inland Fishery Resources of Nigeria.CIFA (FAO) Occasional Paper No. 20 120p.

Ito, E.0; E.K. Sado; J.K. Balogun; A. Paudogari and B.Ihitoye (1985) Inventory Survey of Nigeria InlandWaters and Their Fishery Resources: 1. A preliminarychecklist of inland water bodies in Nigeria with specialreference to ponds, lakes, reservoirs and major rivers.Kainii Lake Research Institute Technical Report Series,No. 14. 51p.

Ita, E.O. (1989) Investment prospects in Inland CaptureFisheries with Special reference to small reservoirs:Exclusive fishing right license model. In: Proceedingsof the 5th Annual Conference of the Fisheries Society ofNigeria (FISON) Ita et al Edited, florín, September 1986.

Skoup Consultants and Nippon (1977) Pre-feasibility studieson Anambra River Basin, Enugu. Federal Ministry ofAgriculture, Lagos.