Nigeria and Norway have joined forces to address the menace of illegal fishing in Nigeria’s territorial waters.
To this end, the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy has expressed its readiness to partner with Norway on satellite surveillance of Nigerian waters to combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing and protect the country’s marine resources from exploitation.
The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Dr. Adegboyega Oyetola dropped the hint when he received Norway’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Ambassador Svein Baera, who paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Abuja recently.
Baera was accompanied on the visit to Oyetola’s office by the Second Secretary (Political and Project Development), Ms. Michelle Hovi.
The Ambassador said the visit was to introduce the Blue Justice initiative which provides participating countries with free satellite-based Automatic Identification System (AIS) vessel-tracking data through the Blue Justice Ocean Surveillance Programme.
He invited Nigeria to join the Blue Community, a network of countries participating in the initiative, to strengthen its capacity to detect suspicious vessel movements, identify so-called “dark vessels” that evade tracking, and tackle illegal fishing and other maritime crimes.
A statement by the Special Adviser to the Honourable Minister, Dr. Bolaji Akinola quoted Baera explaining that the programme would provide Nigeria with both real-time and historical vessel-tracking data, enabling relevant authorities to monitor maritime activities, investigate suspicious movements and identify patterns associated with illegal fishing.
According to the statement which was made available to Maritime Bits, Baera said the initiative would support Nigeria’s efforts to protect its fisheries resources, improve maritime surveillance and strengthen enforcement against illegal operators.
Oyetola in his response commended the Norwegian government for the initiative and its longstanding collaboration with Nigeria even as he assured that the country would key into the programme to strengthen the fight against illegal fishing.
Apparently happy with the initiative, the Minister expressed concern that foreign operators illegally harvest fish from Nigerian waters only for the products to be returned to the country and sold to Nigerians at exorbitant prices.
“We cannot continue to allow foreign operators to exploit our marine resources illegally while our local fishers and businesses suffer the consequences. The Federal Government is determined to bring this practice to an end,” he said.
Oyetola stressed that illegal fishing undermines local livelihoods, deprives the country of legitimate economic benefits and threatens the sustainable management of its aquatic resources.
He noted that satellite surveillance and improved intelligence sharing would strengthen the government’s ability to identify suspicious activities and support more effective enforcement of fisheries regulations.
“The protection of our waters is an environmental responsibility and an economic imperative. We must protect our fish stocks, safeguard the livelihoods of our fishermen and ensure that our marine resources contribute meaningfully to national development,” he added.
He disclosed that the Federal Government was pursuing measures to boost local fish production, reduce dependence on imports, create jobs and conserve foreign exchange.
