Discovery study of the outcome of inland fisheries decree on sustainable exploitation of inland fisheries in Lagos State, Nigeria
Keywords:
Explorative analysis, inland fisheries decree, artisanal fishery sector.Abstract
To achieve sustainable and socially beneficial exploitation of the fishery resources led to the
promulgation of the Inland Fisheries Decree 108 of 1992. The objective of this study was focused on
whether the inland fisheries decree has significantly curbed the various threats to inland fishery stocks
and the development of artisanal fishery Four communities (Ibeshe, Iyagbe, Agbowa-Ikosi and Ebute
Afuye) in Lagos State were purposively selected. With the aid of simple random sampling, 309 fisher
folks were interviewed. Thirty (30) fisher folks were arranged for FGDs in each of the communities and
group discussants were stratified into adult men, women and youths. The key informants interviewed
were traditional rulers and the head of fisher folks. Data was analysed using descriptive statistic and
Pearson Chi-square. The results reveal that with the level of significant (0.05) the null hypothesis was
rejected. The study concludes that the fisher folks’ perception of the fisheries decree is significantly
related to conformity with the decree. The provisions of the decree did not exhaust the register of
threats to artisanal fishery. The decree did not address the problem of pollution and open access
regime in artisanal fishery. The decree is grossly violated by the artisanal fisher folks. They use small
mesh nets and unorthodox (plant derived poison) fishing methods. The reasons for the violation of the
decree were: penalties for violation are too cheap to have any impact; and poor monitoring and
enforcement of the decree. The study recommends that government should invest the authority to
manage and control the exploitation of fishery resources on the artisanal fisher folks. The decree
should be reviewed and be well enforced. Such review should accommodate wider consultation of
fishery experts, as well as participatory in-puts, mobilization and sensitization of artisanal fisher folks.
