The Lagos State Government says it is targeting the production of one million metric tons of fish by 2015 to reduce billions of naira the nations spends yearly on fish importation.
Commissioner for Agriculture and Cooperatives, Prince Gbolahan Lawal, said this at the opening ceremony of the 8th Annual Executive Weekend Training on Investment Opportunities in Fish Farming at Oko-Oba in Agege, Lagos, at the weekend. Lawal lamented that the nation wastes N105 billion annually on fish importation in spite of the water body that Nigeria is endowed with, saying that Lagos was embarking on full aqua culture to enable the state achieve the target. Lagos is endowed with vast network of lagoons and rivers which make 22% of its total land mass and an Atlantic Ocean coastline of about 180km. This ecological endowment confers on Lagos an enormous potential for fish production and makes fisheries and allied activities the dominant among rural populace.
The state government will provide the needed supports to fish farmers. More outboards engines would be distributed to the fishermen in all the rural areas, he stated.
On the training, the commissioner said that it was crucial to keep the participants abreast of the latest innovation in the fish farming industry, assuring them of the government’s commitment to revive agricultural sectors in the state.
Lawal noted that government would subsidise all the input that would facilitate production of fish in the state, adding that the state could not continue to depend on other countries to feed 21 million Lagosians.