The expanding fishmeal and fish oil (FMFO) industry in West Africa is said to be threatening food security and livelihoods of local people in the region, according to a recent report by Greenpeace.
The report raises strong concerns about the expanding FMFO industry, particularly noting Mauritania, Senegal and The Gambia. All three species of fish used for FMFO are essential for food security, and are currently being overexploited throughout the region, according to the report.
“We’re losing hundreds of thousands of tonnes of edible fish to fishmeal and fish oil exports, potentially impacting 40 million African consumers. West African governments must protect regional fish stocks and put the food security rights of their citizens first, by quickly decreasing the amount of fish going into fishmeal production,” said Ibrahima Cissé, Oceans campaign manager for Greenpeace Africa.
Already, Nigeria is reputed to be a culprit in over fishing, as well as Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, and with surveillance laxities along the coastal areas, the country is likely to be contributing significantly to FMFO. Nigeria is identified as the 8th highest importer of fishmeal from Mauritania according to a ranking said to have been done from ITC Trade Map/UN Comtrade.
In Nigeria, the management of inland waters is regarded as the exclusive responsibility of the States to which such water bodies belong. According to FAO, there is at present, no uniform law for inland fisheries in Nigeria, even though there is a Sea Fisheries Decrees Act of 1971, as well as the relevant Fishery Regulations and the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Decree of 1978, which enable the Federal Government to control, regulate and protect the sea fisheries resources.
FAO also noted, “Even where such laws and regulations exist, they are not often enforced.”
Highlighting the severity of the situation, Ibrahima Cissé noted that decades of overfishing and government inaction have degraded regional fish stocks. Now the fishmeal industry is aggravating the problem to a critical level; taking fish from people’s plates to feed fish farms, pigs or poultry in faraway markets. Catches that could be made by artisanal fishermen and the women who process them – which could feed low income families – is exported to be used as animal feed. “It makes no sense,” he said.
Greenpeace says it has found 50 operational FMFO factories in the region, 40 of which were active in March 2019. The majority of West African FMFO is destined for overseas markets, largely Asia and the EU. The growing FMFO industry is not only threatening regional fish stocks but affecting livelihoods and food security. About 80 per cent of fish landings in Senegal come from the artisanal sector, and fish provides around 70 per cent of the population’s animal protein needs, and over 50 per cent of protein needs in The Gambia.
Greenpeace Africa in a statement, advocated for West African governments and companies to face their responsibilities in the much-needed protection of regional fish stocks, as well as prioritise basic human rights: food security and the livelihoods of artisanal fishermen and women processors. “We have to put fish back on people’s tables, before satisfying industrial farming,” said Cissé.
CALEB OJEWALE
