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LAGOS—Nigeria’s
coastal fishing industry is facing extinction because
piracy in the country’s waters is costing lives and
money.
Africa’s
most populous nation could also face a shortage of fish
at a time when a global food crisis is causing social
unrest in some countries, Margaret Orakwusi, a vice
president of the Nigerian Trawler Owners Association,
said late Wednesday in the capital, Abuja.
The
number of registered trawlers in Nigeria has dropped to
170 from 250 four years ago, and those still in business
may be forced to close with the loss of 50,000 direct
jobs and another 250,000 in associated businesses,
Orakwusi told delegates to a conference on piracy.
From 40
fishing companies about five years ago, “we now have
only 19 still remaining because many have relocated” to
neighboring African countries, she said. “If allowed to
continue, piracy will lead to the collapse of the
fishing industry.”
Trawlers
fishing along the country’s 853-kilometer coastline have
lost 15 billion naira ($127.3 million) since 2003 as a
result of attacks by pirates, Orakwusi said.
Members
of the association withdrew their trawlers from Nigerian
waters for 36 days at the beginning of the year to
protest an increase in attacks by pirates and to demand
protection from the navy.
Piracy
is on the rise in
Nigeria,
Africa’s biggest oil producer, as militant groups in the
Niger Delta region intensify their demands for a greater
share of the area’s oil revenue. Apart from attacking
oil facilities, they often kidnap oil workers for
ransom.
As many
as 12 attacks on ships were reported in the first
quarter, compared with 42 during the whole of last year,
Pottengal Mukundan, a director of the London-based
International Maritime Bureau, said in Abuja Tuesday.
Among
coastal nations,
Nigeria
and Somalia recorded the biggest increase during the
year, the United Nations’ International Maritime
Organization said in a report on April 18. (Bloomberg) |
