The federal government has inaugurated a technical committee to drive implementation on boosting fish production in Nigeria.
TheHintsNews reports that the ministry, in collaboration with the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), convened a strategic roundtable on October 29, 2025 on accelerating fish production in Nigeria, which produced recommendations aimed at addressing production and value-chain constraints.
The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, who inaugurated the committee on Thursday in Abuja said the initiative was aimed at moving beyond policy recommendations to coordinated action capable of delivering measurable improvements in the country’s fisheries and aquaculture sector.
He said fish remained a critical source of animal protein for millions of Nigerians, while the fisheries and aquaculture value chain provided livelihoods through production, processing, marketing, transportation and other related services.
Oyetola noted: Fish is an important source of animal protein for millions of Nigerians. The fisheries and aquaculture sector sustains livelihoods across production, processing, marketing, transportation and related services.
“However, domestic production remains substantially below national demand, with consequences for food security, household incomes and foreign-exchange resources.”
Oyetola identified high production costs, particularly the cost of feed, inadequate access to quality fish seed and broodstock, weak fish-health and biosecurity systems, post-harvest losses and insufficient cold-chain and storage infrastructure among the major challenges confronting the sector.
He also cited limited access to affordable finance, gaps in research and innovation, weak data systems, as well as inadequate standards, traceability and market development as constraints that must be urgently addressed.
According to the minister, The transfer of fisheries and aquaculture functions to the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy has provided a stronger institutional platform for addressing these challenges as part of Nigeria’s broader blue-economy development.”
He reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to increasing sustainable domestic fish production, strengthening the fisheries value chain and progressively reducing Nigeria’s dependence on fish imports.
Oyetola said the newly inaugurated committee had been constituted to rigorously assess those recommendations and turn validated proposals into a practical, prioritised implementation roadmap.
He added: “Your assignment is not to develop another policy or establish a parallel programme. The report of the roundtable must be assessed against the National Policy on Marine and Blue Economy, the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy, relevant laws, existing government programmes and the statutory mandates of relevant institutions.”
Oyetola charged the committee to scrutinise every recommendation and determine whether it should be adopted, refined, integrated into existing frameworks, subjected to further study or set aside as unviable.
The committee is also expected to map existing initiatives across the public, private and development sectors to strengthen proven strategies and prevent duplication in the deployment of scarce resources.
“Your final output should include a clear implementation roadmap and matrix setting out the priority interventions, responsible institutions, timelines, indicative costs, funding options, performance indicators and required approvals.
“It should also identify credible opportunities for private-sector investment, public-private partnerships, development finance and other sustainable funding arrangements.”