Nigeria’s farmed fish market is shrinking as a ban on smoked catfish (siluriformes) and all fish products from the country into the United States (US) persists, fish farmers say. The fish farmers who spoke to BusinessDay, say that some markets in Canada and Europe have begun denying entry to the country’s fish products as a result of the ban by the US government. “Our market for smoked fish is getting smaller by the day with the ban and the glut of imports of fish products into the country as well as smuggling,” Tayo Akingbolagun, former national president, Catfish Association of Nigeria (CFAN) says in a response to BusinessDay questions. “The government has not been proactive about the problems in the industry, and things are getting very bad. We could see this in the last GDP report where the sector contracted,” Akingbolagun says.
The fishing sector contracted in the second quarter (Q2) of 2018 by 1.4 percent from a growth of 4.3 percent recorded in the previous quarter, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) states. Akingbolagun notes that some European markets have also started rejecting the country’s smoked catfish and other fish products too. BusinessDay had on the 3rd of May, 2018 reported about the ban on all fish products from Nigeria into the US due to the failure of the government to fully supply information requested in the Self Reporting Tool (SRT) before the due date. “It has been very difficult for us and our sales have reduced drastically since the ban. We mainly export to markets in the US and Canada, now we are trying to sell locally but the demand has been very low,” Richard Agetu cofounder Richsi Nigeria Limited, makers of Ejazuki smoked tells BusinessDay. “We had to reduce our staff strength last month since we are not making as much sales as before,” Agetu says. Nigeria has recorded tremendous growth in its fish production in recent years as output has increased from less than 500,000MT in 2011 to 1.1 million MT in 2017, data from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture states.
But stakeholders believe that the growth will be stalled by the US government ban and that the diversification drive of the country will also be hampered. Muazu Mohammed, director of fisheries, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FAMARD) says that the ministry has sent in the Self Reporting Tool (SRT) to the United States since May and would continue to dialogue with the world’s largest economy. “We have satisfied the requirement and we have sent it to them. There are certain parameters that they are looking at and if the parameters are okay then they will we lift the ban. We just sent in a reminder they told us that they were still studying the documents,” Mohammed says. Efforts to reach the US Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) proved abortive.
