Yenagoa—A member of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Hon. Daniel Charles Wednesday moved a motion during plenary calling on the government to curb the menace of illegal fishing techniques by fishermen in the state.
He said the livelihood of most Bayelsans is currently threatened, as some criminal elements are said to be indulging in illegal fishing techniques which cause irreversible damage to the aquatic habitat.
According to him, some of the illegal fishing techniques are blast fishing, which includes the use of dynamites and homemade bombs to kill a large portion of fish; cyanide fishing, which entails spraying sodium cyanide mixture to fish, bottom trawler fishing technique, amongst others.
Charles, who represents Brass Constituency 1 in the state assembly, argued that the said illegal practices do not only damage the marine wildlife but make the fishes and other seafood unsafe for human consumption.
The lawmaker disclosed that recently, there has been an influx of fishermen from Bonny, Rivers State, into Twon-Brass.
“A Similar incident took place in Bonny, Rivers state and the fishermen were asked to leave the communities because their activities were against the interest of the people.
“But surprisingly, these fishermen have found their way to Twon-Brass.
“I want to call on our traditional rulers, community development committees and other stakeholders at the rural level to help fight this menace,” he stated.
Charles averred that the absence of a state and federal legal/administrative framework, regulation and support are some of the major factors that have encouraged such illegal practices.
He urged the state government to consider sponsoring a bill that is specifically designed to protect coastal communities from pirates and illegal fishermen.
The lawmaker called on the state government to engage the federal ministry of agriculture and rural development to empower the fisheries department in tertiary institutions in the state to support fisheries operations.
His words, “Implementation and compliance has always been a challenge and that is why I am not just calling on the state government, but also on the National Assembly to amend extant laws that relate to this issue.
“I urge the House to set up an ad-hoc committee to liaise with state and federal lawmakers to amend existing fisheries regulations to reflect current realities.
“I also urge the executive, particularly the ministry of agriculture to do the needful in implementing these laws.”
