They stated that the ongoing negligence of the fish farming sector might result in substantial job losses.

In a released statement, the President of the group, Mr. Okon Amah noted that even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, engaging in fish farming in Nigeria had become increasingly challenging. Factors like insecurity, erratic power supply, escalating feed costs, and other input expenses have led to the shutdown of numerous farms.

Amah also underscored that thousands of jobs are currently endangered due to the declining state of the sector.

He stated, "The pandemic exacerbated the situation, and then came the floods, which caused fish farmers to suffer losses of over 100 billion naira. Yet, we have received no support from the government to mitigate the impacts."

"Fish farming has historically provided employment opportunities. For instance, I visited the Uteh cluster in Benin, which comprises over 800 fish farmers employing double that number in workers, not including the indirect jobs it has created within that region, totaling around 4000."

Amah continued, "That's just one cluster among many scattered across the country. Consider the consequences if more of these shut down; it would only exacerbate the existing high unemployment rate in Nigeria."

"Fish farmers have been independently providing essential amenities like power, roads, and water. We're exhausted. We are now grappling with the escalating production costs, particularly the cost of fish feed. This is alarming considering that fish is a staple in the diet of Nigerians and beyond."

"Recently, the roadmap for food security was presented at the United Nations Food Summit in Italy by the Ministry of Agriculture. Astonishingly, aquaculture and fisheries were excluded. Does this imply that the Federal Government has no plans for an industry that generates billions for other countries? Do we not have a strategy for the blue economy?"

In addition, Captain Oladele Robinson, the Executive Secretary of the Fisheries Cooperatives of Nigeria, highlighted that the fish farming and fishing sectors together create over five million direct jobs, and another 15 million jobs are indirectly generated through processors, sellers, and others in the value chain.