MAIDUGURI – The Nigeria Union of Fishermen And Sea Food Dealers (NUFAS), Borno Chapter, has lauded Lake Chad Basin Commission, N’djamena on its fish support programme to the union.
Alhaji Abubakar Namandi, The chairman of the union, gave this commendation in an interview with newsmen in Maiduguri.
He said that the union members had received support under the Chad Republic Sustainable Development Programme to boost their production.
Namandi said the union had received fish farming inputs including 200 units of ‘chorkor’ oven for fish smoking, fish drying trays, water testing kits and containers for storage of fresh fish and about 5,000 fish nets.
He said that the gesture had led to an increase in local fish production from 650, 000 to 1.5 million metric tonnes annually.
Namandi said that the union had successfully registered more than one million members, comprising of local fishermen, fish dealers, producers, marketers and processors across the state 27 Local Government Areas.
The chairman also highlighted some of the challenges facing the union to include lack of passable roads to various fishing villages, due to the Boko Haram insurgency.
“Most of our fishermen are concentrated in the riparian areas of Lake Chad, Alau Dam and Marama Dam in Biu council areas.
“The present security challenges had forced most of our members to depend on local fish ponds and hatchery,” he said.
According to him, no fewer than 2,000 households in Maiduguri, the state capital, are currently depending on ponds to keep their business going.