FIshing in the Delta

Before oil was discovered in Nigeria fishing was a prominent form of farming for the citizens. In fact many peoples lives have depended on the fishing market. This article explains some of the effects the oil market has had on fishing in Nigeria as well as some of the citizens' thoughts on the modern fishing industry.

The future of more than 8 million people in the Niger Delta whose livelihoods depend upon fishing and the surrounding ecosystem hangs in the balance due to threats posed by industrialized fishing and shrimp farming.

These people live in coastal communities and fishing settlements in the fragile saline mangrove swamps of the Niger Delta, the breeding ground for more than 60 percent of the fish caught along the west coast of Africa.

Coastal communities are concerned about the progressive decline of their fish catch due to the pollution of their fishing grounds by oil companies like Shell, as well as unsustainable fishing practices by illegal trawlers. These trawlers ignore local and national laws, catching fish regardless of size, and destroying the fishing nets and traps of local people.

Fisherfolk also dread the proposed collaboration between Shell and the UN Development Program for industrialized shrimp farming in the Niger Delta. Although the project sponsors claim poverty alleviation for fishing communities as a main goal, local people have not been consulted in this blatantly top-down development scheme. The ulterior motive for the scheme is clear, with worldwide demand for tropical shrimps increasing dramatically in recent years.

Fisherfolk worry with good reason that the shrimp farms will pollute their fishing grounds and simultaneously destroy the mangrove forests, their source of wood for building boats and paddles, fish traps, fences and carvings.

Horror stories about shrimp farming in Asian countries including Thailand, Indonesia, India and Taiwan heighten people's fears. In these countries, shrimp farms have been accompanied by displacement, loss of traditional fishing rights, environmental degradation, land conflicts, migration to overcrowded cities, pollution by harmful antibiotics and chemicals, and gross inequalities between those who profit and those who lose. The promised local employment at the shrimp farms is generally less viable than people's original fishing-based livelihoods, catalyzing a downward spiral of poverty and environmental degradation.

Friends of the Earth Nigeria is increasing the heat on oil companies to accept liability for the messes they have made in the Niger Delta. This will allow fish, crabs, shrimp, crustaceans and other sea food to flourish again. At the same time, they are encouraging the development of small-scale fisheries and artisanal shrimp farming in order to relieve poverty and stress on the environment. They are also working with partners in the North, including Friends of the Earth Netherlands, to inform the public about the social, economic and ecological impacts of shrimp imports.

http://www.foei.org/en/publications/link/poverty/16bottom.html