TRENDS IN FISHERIES, AQUACULTURE AND CONSUMPTION IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The production and consumption trends of fish in Nigeria were examined in this study. The study used secondary
data from the Food and Agriculture Organization Statistics (FAOSTAT) and World Bank statistics for the period
of 1971–2021. The data was analyzed using the growth and Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA)
models. The study's findings showed that the annual average growth rate of total fish production from 1971 to
2021 was 3.01%, aquaculture was 8.84%, capture 2.444% while imports stood at 4.3%. The annual average
growth rate for the years 2022 to 2025 was forecasted to be 2.9% for total fish production, 4.7% for aquaculture,
2.5% for capture and 3.8% for imports. The study revealed a significant degree of concentration in the importation
of foreign fishing resources. The Nigerian fish importers have implemented backward integration into commercial
aquaculture in an effort to lower the country's import costs. Fish import growth rate accelerated, however, fish
production growth rate slowed down. To achieve a balanced trade of Nigerian fisheries, the report recommends
allocating additional resources to the export sector of the country's fisheries and implementing counter-dumping
regulations in the import sector.