Etim Effiong had just returned home after hours of toil at sea with little catch. Experts would describe him as one of the numerous victims of climate change.
The fisherman operates at the Museum Fishing Port behind the dilapidated National Museum in Oron, Oron Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.
He said his recent experience is the worst in his over 20 years of fishing.
Mr Effiong is one of the many artisanal fishermen in Akwa Ibom coastal communities whose livelihood is threatened as fishing expeditions become less productive. PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the situation worsened in recent months due to temperature changes.
Fishing communities in Ibeno and Eastern Obolo local government areas of the state have noticed fewer fish in the waters. They blame the situation on climate change and gas flaring by international oil companies (IOCs).
Artisanal fishing, the use of traditional or small-scale fishing gears (traps, traps, etc.) and motorised or non-motorised vessels (dugout boats and canoes) for fishing in the seas and oceans, is the main source of income for households in the communities. However, catches have declined in recent years as temperature changes and global warming affect fish populations.
In mid-July, when PREMIUM TIMES visited the Museum fishing port in Esuk Abanda – the largest fishing port in the area – and Esin Ufot (a small market square around Esuk Abanda), hundreds of buyers, mainly women, were waiting for fishermen to return from the ocean. But the mood changed to frustration when the boats arrived with poor catch.
As a result, the price of fish shot up threefold. A fish size that sold for N1,000 was sold for N3,500 at the market on that day.
The fishermen attributed the poor catch to a rise in sea level. But they also cited the activities of militants (sea pirates), who they said had snatched over 100 outboard engines from them. According to multiple accounts, outlaws routinely kidnap or kill fishermen at sea.
Scientists and the Nigerian Meteorological Agency have long warned that rising sea levels lead to more erosion and high tide flooding – particularly during extreme coastal storms.
In Emereoke, an oil-rich but poverty-stricken fishing community in Eastern Obolo, the wreckage of homes washed away by ocean expansion is glaring evidence of the devastating effect of climate change on the coastal community.
Experts say the primary cause of climate change in freshwater ecosystems is global warming.
According to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, gas flaring in the Niger Delta could be responsible for the increase in temperature and the associated global warming in Nigeria’s freshwater ecosystems.
Scientists warn that oceans are warming fast, the sea is rising, and storms are becoming more torrential. Similarly, increased heat could pose a grave threat to the fish population the world depends on by the end of this century if climate change continues unchecked.
The low-lying nature of its about 800km coastline makes Nigeria more vulnerable to climate change. The effect of climatic changes on fish and their habitat affect the fisheries in the context of production, species, markets, environment and management arrangement, studies have shown.