Nigeria’s fish imports rise 19.54% in two years — IMION DG

Nigeria’s importation of frozen fish and seafood has risen by 19.54 per cent annually between 2023 and 2025, the Director-General, International Maritime Institute of Nigeria, IMION, Mr. Thaddeus Christopher Udofia, has said.

Speaking at the National Conference on Sustainable Fishing, organised by the Maritime Correspondents Organisation of Nigeria, MARCON, in Lagos, Udofia said statistics from the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database showed that Nigeria imported frozen fish and seafood worth $606 million in 2023.

He said the figure rose to $688.5 million in 2024 and further increased to $866 million in 2025, representing a compound annual growth rate of 19.54 per cent.

The IMION DG said the rising import bill was an indication of the paradox confronting Nigeria’s fisheries sector, amidst the country’s abundant maritime and inland water resources.

According to him the country’s maritime domain, including inland waterways, creeks, estuaries and the Niger Delta basin, was endowed with fisheries resources and aquaculture potential.

He, however, lamented that Nigeria remained one of the largest importers of seafood in Africa despite its natural endowment.

Udofia attributed the challenge to factors including overfishing, climate change and illegal, unreported and unregulated, IUU, fishing.

He also raised concerns over the activities of foreign industrial trawlers, accusing them of engaging in destructive bottom trawling and depleting resources relied upon by local artisanal fishermen.

According to him, the activities have implications for food security and the livelihoods of coastal communities.

To reverse the trend, Udofia advocated a five-pillar strategic framework comprising stronger regulatory synergy and enforcement, science-based fisheries management, capacity building and technological integration, advanced maritime technology and data intelligence, as well as community-based fisheries management.

He called for greater investment in aquaculture, saying Nigeria must move aggressively from wild-capture fisheries to technology-driven aquaculture to address the country’s seafood deficit.