The Director General of the International Maritime Institute of Nigeria (IMION), Rear Admiral Thaddeus Christopher Udofia (rtd), has unveiled a five pillar strategy aimed at reviving Nigeria’s fisheries sector, protecting aquatic resources, securing coastal livelihoods and tackling food insecurity.
Udofia unveiled the strategy while delivering the keynote address at the Maritime Correspondents’ Organisation of Nigeria (MARCON) National Conference held at Rockview Hotel, Apapa, Lagos.
The conference had as its theme, “Sustainable Fishing in Nigeria: Pathways to Growth, Food Security and Coastal Livelihoods.”
The IMION Director General warned that Nigeria could not continue to exploit its marine resources without taking deliberate steps to protect and replenish them, stressing that sustainable management must become a national priority.
“Let me be clear regarding sustainability: we cannot expect to harvest tomorrow what we ruthlessly destroy, allow others to destroy, or neglect to nurture today,” Udofia said.
He said Nigeria must move from vulnerability to long term sustainability by adopting disciplined policies, effective enforcement mechanisms and measurable performance indicators across the fisheries and wider maritime sectors.
According to him, the first pillar of the strategy is unified regulatory enforcement, which requires greater coordination among maritime security agencies, port economic regulators and fisheries authorities.
Udofia noted that the Nigerian Navy’s successes in tackling piracy and Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing should be expanded and sustained across Nigeria’s fisheries domain to protect legitimate operators and marine resources.
The second pillar is data driven maritime policy, with Udofia calling for greater support for research institutions such as the Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research (NIOMR) and IMION to provide reliable scientific data on fish stocks.
He said policies on catch limits, closed fishing seasons and marine protected areas should be based on credible scientific evidence and backed by consistent enforcement rather than assumptions.
The third pillar, aggressive aquaculture development, seeks to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on unpredictable wild capture fisheries through modern fish farming technologies, including cage culture systems in suitable coastal lagoons.
Udofia also identified investment in cold chain facilities, modern processing technologies and institutional capacity building as critical to reducing post harvest losses and creating sustainable economic opportunities for women and young people.
The fourth pillar is advanced intelligence monitoring, involving stronger vessel monitoring systems, satellite surveillance, marine spatial planning and tighter enforcement of catch quotas, while the fifth pillar, community led co management, seeks to give coastal communities a formal role in protecting and managing fisheries resources through cooperative societies and community based fisheries management.
He stressed that sustainable fisheries management could not be achieved through government enforcement alone, arguing that coastal communities, which have depended on marine resources for generations, must become active partners in protecting Nigeria’s aquatic environment and building a stronger Blue Economy.