W/African countries losing $2bn annually from illegal fishing – GGC boss

While other countries and regions are reaping the benefits of the blue economy, countries in the West African region are estimated to be losing about $2 billion annually from illegal fishing, said Florentina Adenike Ukonga, executive secretary of the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC).

Ukonga disclosed this in Lagos on Monday at the opening ceremony of a two-day Gulf of Guinea Conference themed, ‘The Blue Economy in the Interest of Food Security in the Gulf of Guinea,’ said that the coastal sector in the region has remained underdeveloped and poorly governed, thereby enabling other forces from outside the continent to benefit more from it.

She expressed worries as the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, has estimated that about 57 percent of fish stocks are fully exploited while another 30 percent are over exploited.

According to Ukonga, World Bank reported in 2016 that fish stocks are further exploited by illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, which is estimated to be 11 to 26 million tonnes of fish annually or $10 to $22 million in unlawful or undocumented revenue.

“There is strong evidence that major ocean assets have been in steady decline for many years, many of the living marine resources are in serious decline as a result of human activities at sea. Alarmingly, there have not been any serious sustainable practices to deal with this serious threat.

“The Blue Economy is already faltering and not delivering anything like its full potential, at a time when pollution is on the increase and the need for food and resources from the ocean is also increasing. It has been projected that the population will continue to increase, which requires us to do more for the ocean sustainability in order to have food on our table,” Ukonga advised.

Ukonga believes that fishing business in the region can be developed to the level that no importation of frozen marine living resources from outside the GOG region will be necessary to meet local consumption needs.

He added that such can only become possible when living marine resources in the region are properly developed, harnessed and controlled.

In his welcome address, Dakukuk Peterside, director general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) expressed delight that members of the GOG were now thinking of how to expand and develop the blue economy. He advised participating countries to hasten up in the utilisation of their water resources for economic expansion, diversification and development. 

Uzoamaka Anagor-Ewuzie