Thursday 11 January 2024

COMMUNIQUE OF THE 38th ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF FISHERIES SOCIETY OF NIGERIA (FISON) TAGGED "BAYELSA 2023"

 COMMUNIQUE OF THE 38th ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF FISON HELD AT THE NIGER DELTA UNIVERSITY, FACULTY OF LAW CAMPUS, YENAGOA, BAYELSA STATE FROM 27 NOVEMBER TO 1ST DECEMBER, 2023

The participants were drawn from the academia, fish farmers, fish processors, fish marketers, civil and public servants, NGOs and students.

The conference was declared open by His Excellency Senator Douye Diri, the Executive Governor of Bayelsa State, represented by Hon. David Alagoa, the Honourable Commissioner, Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

The keynote address titled, “Harnessing Resources for Fisheries in the Blue Economy of Nigeria” was delivered by the erudite Professor Francis David Sikoki, Ffs, Dean, Faculty of Science, University of Africa, Toru-Orua and immediate past Chairman Council of Fellows of the Fisheries Society of Nigeria.

The Honorable Minister of Agriculture and Food Security was represented by the Director, Federal Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, who presented a goodwill message and used the opportunity to highlight the policy thrust of the Federal Government for the development of the fisheries sector. He stressed the importance of fish biodiversity and economic resources of the country for promoting sustainable management, research and learning. He also called on FISON to collaborate with other agencies, in other to proffer solutions to challenges of the marine resources conservation, preservation and sustainability in the development of blue economy.

Technical sessions were held at Niger Delta University (NDU) Faculty of Law, Yenagoa. Presentations were done based on thirteen (13) sub –themes of the conference as follows: Aquatic Ecosystem Pollution and Biomonitoring, Ecotourism in a blue economy, Fish pathology, Fish Post- harvest Technology, Fisheries development and climate change, Fisheries Technology and Innovation, Fisheries governance and management, Fisheries Market Systems Development, Gender Issues in Fish Production, Information and Communication Technology for Fisheries Development, Managing and Sustaining Marine Life, Sustainable Artisanal and Coastal Aquaculture.

 

During the 38th Annual Conference at Yenagoa, Bayelsa practicing fish farmers were given opportunity to discuss with fisheries professionals. The farmers came from all the states and FCT. While Bayelsa fish farmers complained of high cost of feed, accessibility of quality fingerlings, unavailability of market for the selling of fishery products and lack of fund or grants from government, some stakeholders, like the proprietor of Aquabashy Fisheries Foundation, Ilorin, Kwara State and the Managing Director/CEO of The Big Blue Aquaculture Ltd in Tiga, Kano, agreed on the challenges of marketing and value addition in Nigeria. They also explained to the forum the potentials of production of diverse species of local fishes and sought for collaboration between FISON, government and non- governmental organizations (NGOs) in boosting the fishery and aquaculture sector. The President World Aquaculture Society- African Chapter, also highlighted the issues of marketing of the farmed fishes especially catfish, access to international markets, roles and responsibility of stakeholders and fish farmers’ participation in certification processes.  

During the conference, under the Chairmanship of Deaconess Foluke Areola, ffs, the first female President of FISON and the current President of World Aquaculture Society African Chapter (WAS-AC), the Society awarded honorary fellowship to His Excellency, the Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, and two others were given awards of special recognition, namely, Honourable Chief David Alagoa, Hon. Commissioner, Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Bayelsa State and Mr. Okelezo Jonathan Omanudhowho, CEO/ MD Okelo Agro Farms Nigeria, Limited, Delta State. Seventeen others were conferred as Fellows of Fisheries Society of Nigeria (Ffs), which is the highest honour that the Society bestows on her members, in recognition of their significant contributions to the advancement of fisheries practice in Nigeria and beyond.

 

At the end of the conference the Fisheries Society of Nigeria came up with the following resolutions:

i. FISON applauded the contributions of Bayelsa State government in boosting the Fisheries and Aquaculture sectors and appreciate the support in ensuring a successful conference of the Society and at the same time, the Society is looking forward to collaborating with the State Government, in improving and strengthening the fisheries sector in the State.

ii. There is urgent need for clarity on the position of the Federal Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture in the newly created Ministry of Marine Resources and Blue economy.

iii. There is also the need for partnership between FISON, SON, NAFDAC, NGOs, other standard organizations, and international organizations such as WAS with view to ensuring that the Nigeria’s fishery products met requirements for certification, standardization, and export.

iv. There is need for update on the value addition processes employed by our fish processors to ensure long shelf life and standardization.

v. There is urgent need for government and FISON to develop models in Eco-tourism, Advanced Industrial Fishing Technology, etc.

vi. The participants were concerned on the inclusion of youths and women in the fisheries and aquaculture development agenda (on the artisanal fishery or small-scale fishery sector in supplying fish to the populace for food security and improve their livelihoods)

vii. There is urgent need for backward integration in reducing the cost of feed by removing import duty/tariffs on imported components of fish feed by the government.

viii. There is the need for Fisheries Society of Nigeria (FISON) to involve all the stakeholders and collaborate with World Aquaculture Society/ African Region to achieve the desired aims and objectives.

ix. The Society also recognizes the need to diversify the culturable species (apart from Catfish) to other species like Oreochromis niloticus (tilapia), Heterotis niloticus (ekou, ako, slap water, or arowana), Gymnarchus (abah or trunk fish), Citharinus citharus (moon fish), Labeo coubie (Niger carp), Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus (silver catfish), etc. Therefore, the Federal and State governments were encouraged to fund research in this direction.

x. Participants noticed that fisheries data generation and management is very poor and the need for a holistic approach towards its improvement which will lead to the revival of fisheries statistics committees for the States and Federal Government.

xi. The FISON President, Dr Ebinimi J. Ansa Ffs and NEC commend the effort, commitment and activities of the state chapters and look forward to better programmes and results.

xii. The Society also recognized the financial support of various sponsors during the Conference.

xiii. Participants resolved that 2024 FISON Conference should be held in Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

 

 

 

Tonbarapagha Kingdom, Ph.D, mfs, mnes, masn: COMMUNIQUE OF THE 38th ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF FISHER...

Tonbarapagha Kingdom, Ph.D, mfs, mnes, masn: COMMUNIQUE OF THE 38th ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF FISHER...:   COMMUNIQUE OF THE 38 th  ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF FISON HELD AT THE NIGER DELTA UNIVERSITY, FACULTY OF LAW CAMPUS, YENAGOA, BAYELSA STATE FROM...

Friday 29 December 2023

 Calling all Africa-based researchers! Do you have experiences with preprints or thoughts on their use?

 

Preprints, or pre-publication research manuscripts, have become increasingly popular in the global academic community. However, we believe it's crucial to understand the unique perspectives and experiences of African researchers when it comes to preprints.

 

Preprints have the potential to bring about greater equity in the publishing process and academia more widely. However, the adoption of preprints varies significantly across academic fields and geographical regions. Across Africa, there is limited evidence regarding the number of preprints posted and used. However, the data that does exist points to a low number of published preprints across the region. 

 

To better understand the awareness and perception of preprints from Africa-based researchers, a group of ASAPbio 2023 Fellows have designed a short survey. "Perceptions of Preprints by Africa-based Researchers," and we need your valuable input. By participating in this survey, you can contribute to a deeper understanding of how preprints are viewed and utilized within the African research landscape.

Completing the survey will only take a few minutes of your time.

 

Kindly click on the link to get started: https://bit.ly/africa-survey

 

Your responses will remain completely anonymous, and your privacy is of utmost importance to us.

 

As a token of our appreciation, respondents will have a chance to win a gift card taken from a random draw when the survey closes. We will publish the results of the survey in aggregate in a blog post and make available a version of the data that does not contain any information on individual institutions, individuals, or other potentially identifying information.

 

Kind regards,

 

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Memories of the 38th Annual Conference of the Fisheries Society of Nigeria (FISON), tagged 'Bayelsa 2023', held in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State between November 27th and December 1st 2023
















 

Saturday 14 October 2023

 Dear All,


Registration for the second session of the IOI-Nigeria Ocean Academy Course (OAC) has started and it is open to all. The course date is 17th to 20th October 2023 and deadline for application is the 16th.


Please visit https://www.ioinst.org/ioi-ocean-academy-1/nigeria/ to complete your registration.


Thank you.

Wednesday 9 November 2022

COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AT THE END OF THE 37TH ANNUAL NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE FISHERIES SOCIETY OF NIGERIA (FISON) HOSTED BY ITS ADAMAWA STATE CHAPTER AT YOLA BETWEEN 30TH OCTOBER - 4TH NOVEMBER 2022.
Theme of the conference: National Insecurity and Challenges of Fish Production: The role of private and industrial sectors

PREAMBLE
The 37th National Annual Conference of the Fisheries Society of Nigeria (FISON) with the theme “National Insecurity and Challenges of Fish Production: The role of private and industrial sectors.” was successfully hosted by the Adamawa State chapter of FISON with the support of Adamawa state government at the Federal College of Education, Yola from Sunday 30th October to Friday 4th November 2022. It was attended by 250 participants that cut across the academia, fisheries professionals, students, private sector, state, and non-state actors from the six geopolitical zones of the country.
The five days conference was aimed at improving fish production by the private and industrial sector and the possibilities of using fisheries and aquaculture potentials to overcome prevailing insecurity.
Participants were enlightened and informed on the role of the shrinking Lake Chad due to climate change and its attendant effect on the intra-African fish trade which reduction has translated into job loss and eventual insecurity across our nation and sub-continent. 
The opening session of the conference was chaired by the Executive Governor of Adamawa State, His Excellency, Rt Hon. Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri represented by his Chief of staff, Professor Maxwell Gidado and the Keynote address was delivered by Distinguished Professor Anetekhai Martins, a fellow of the Society. Other notable speakers that doubled as discussants were Prof. Jude Momoh on insecurity and Dr. Raji Aminu, Ffs a former Executive Director/CEO Nigerian Institute for Fresh water Fisheries who dissected issues militating fish production as presented by the keynote speaker.
The different days of the conference were characterized with technical sessions where research findings were presented for consideration by several experts in addition to talks on Fisheries Governance strategies for effective sector administration delivered by Dr Abba Yakubu Abdullahi, Ffs (special Adviser on Agriculture and Natural resources to Katsina state Governor). Other activities include Symposium on challenges of fisheries data management in Nigeria presented by Dr. Abubakar Yaji of Modibo Adama University, Yola and a seminar on Challenges of Fish farmers in National development delivered by Prof. Abubakar Kotos of Modibo Adama University. The conference also witnessed other activities such as the Fish Farmers and stakeholder’s forum, Student induction, professional fellowship investitures, award ceremonies among several others. The activities were rounded up with the annual general meetings of the society which heralded the emergence of new executives that will manage the affairs of the society for the next two years. Dr. Adegoke Lukman Agbabiaka, Ffs led his team of National executives to bow out to the newly elected National executive council headed by Dr. Ebinimi Ansa, Ffs as the President.
After robust discussions on issues relating to fisheries and aquaculture production and management, the following observations and recommendations were made:
Observations
The participants at the conference observed that:
The delay in the signing of the Chartered bill on the Fisheries Institute of Nigeria is a major hindrance to major advocacy effort of the society
Environmental degradation, ignorance, poor governance, and political issues are major problems that resulted into national insecurity.
Shrinking of Lake Chad was a major problem to fisheries production from the northeast and eventual job loss
Lack of political will and poor resources on the part of government is a major problem militating against the needed desilting and impoundment of Lake Chad to further enhance fisheries and agricultural practices.
Lack of reliable data base on existing fisheries and Aquaculture value chain for robust policy formulation on demand and trade supply which has created poor trade link between Nigeria and other African countries.
Outdated syllabi that are no longer relevant to present day fisheries and aquaculture development persist in our tertiary institutions
Inadequate data bank on capture fisheries and aquaculture production, number of fish farmers, artisanal fishermen details, Fisheries schools details and other information leading to data deficiencies, inaccurate, assumed, and falsified data. Fisheries data generation and management were observed to be very poor
Lack of Fisheries commission is creating excess bureaucratic bottlenecks in the fisheries sector of the ministry of Agriculture

RECOMMENDATIONS
The participant at the conference recommended the following:
That FISON should step up its advocacy effort and engage the appropriate authority on the need to address the persistent problems confronting the farmers and fisherfolks
The conference recommends a united stand on Lake Chad reactivation by its desilting and impoundment by the stakeholder West African countries to stem the wave of militancy in that region to stem insecurity across the sub-region. 
There is urgent need to apply good governance to solve insecurity in the country.
The participants emphasized the needs to incorporate the new invasive seaweed (sargassum species) into the fisheries value chain because of its numerous economic importance.
There must be an effective Public-Private Partnership (PPP) aimed to mobilize resources to improve on security, academic and research activities in the fishery sector.
The need to adjust the fishery and aquaculture curricula or syllabi of our tertiary institutions to reflect the need of the industrial sector.
Research activities should be industry and demand driven to meet the challenges of the day.
Fish feeds should be made from good quality materials and must be devoid of contamination i.e., chemicals and biological. They should also be properly handled to ensure that the quality is preserved
Revival of fisheries statistics committees for the States and Federal Government was advocated.
There is the need for partnership between FDF&A, NITDA and States for the development of FISH DAS software.
Participants recommends that NEC should monitor the activities of the state chapters of FISON to motivate them and make them more active.
FISON applauded the contribution of Adamawa State Government in boosting the Fishery and Aquaculture sub-sectors. For instance, establishment of State Ministry for Livestock and Aquaculture Development and full support to FISON Adamawa State to host 2022 Conference of the Society.
Signed:
Prof. Sogbesan, Amos Olukayode
Dr. Abdullahi Orire
Dr. Babangida Abdulkarim

Saturday 21 May 2022

WORLD FISH MIGRATION DAY

In the name of urbanization, we have blocked the migratory routes of our endemic fish species. These fishes migrate for feeding and reproductory purposes. Today, as we join the world to celebrate #WorldFishMigrationDay, let us add our voices against blocking of water ways. Blocking our water ways may lead to extinction of our very important fish species. #WorldFishMigrationDay, #Breakfree