Integrated Fisheries Resource Management
Need help with a related project topic or New topic? Send Us Your Topic
DOWNLOAD THE COMPLETE PROJECT MATERIAL
Integrated Fisheries Resource Management
Chapter One:
Introduction and Background to the Study.
Integrated Fisheries Resources Management is an initiative and strategies aimed at addressing the issue of how fish resources in a country can be best shared between competing users within the larger context of ecologically sustainable development, allowing them to be managed in a sustainable manner (Davies et al, 2008).
Hunger and malnutrition are among the most terrible issues confronting the world’s poor and needy. Nigeria is one of the developing countries where citizens face hunger, deprivation, and abject poverty despite having enormous natural and human resources, emphasising the importance of proper fisheries resource management (Alamu et al, 2004).
Nigeria is one of the world’s greatest fish consumers, consuming more than 1.5 million tonnes each year. Fish farming in Nigeria has its roots in the ancient African reciprocal, community, technical, and labour support/skills transfer system that existed approximately 10,000 years ago. Aquaculture produced around 96,000 metric tonnes of fish in 2000, compared to only 20,000 tonnes in 1994 (FAO, 2002).
Integrated resource management incorporating fish is broadly characterised as the simultaneous or sequential integration of two or more human activity systems that are properly regulated, at least one of which includes aquaculture.
Furthermore, the links between aquaculture and human activities include not only agriculture (crops, livestock, irrigation dams, canals), but also sanitation (night soil, septage or other forms of human excreta re-use, sewage treatment), nutrient recovery (hydroponic fish, breweries), and energy recovery (culture in heated effluents of power plants, dairies, etc.) (Prein, 2002).
In contrast, theorists used to distinguish Integrated Fish Resource Management from mixed farming, in which farm production subsystems are not mutually supporting and do not rely on one another.
The notion of integrated resource management includes fish aquaculture with livestock and agricultural products. This method of farming maximises resource utilisation because trash or byproducts from one system are successfully recycled. It also allows for the optimal use of available farming space to maximise productivity.
In Nigeria, integrated fisheries resource management has been recorded in many states of the federation, with 50% of fish farmers combining poultry, piggery, or livestock with fish production, while integrated fish cum crop production is also increasing in numerous states.
According to FAO (2002), the goal of an integrated management system is to boost fish output in order to solve the issues of food shortages and reduce unemployment in Nigeria. When designing integrated fisheries management systems, socioeconomic factors should be taken into account.
The growth of a diverse economy is dependent on the harmonious interactions of socioeconomic conditions, agricultural production, and regional environmental conditions.
The type and level of integration in any section of the country are determined by local environmental conditions, social conventions, cultural values, and religious beliefs.
For example, in the northern portion of the country, fish cum pig integration is not recommended due to religious reasons (Ajana, 2003). The sort of integration is determined by the agricultural enterprises that will be joined and their intensity.
Fish culture can be either extensive, semi-intense, or intensive. Because of its natural environment, semi-intensive earthen pond fish culture is the best integrated aquaculture system for crop and livestock production.
Aside from market factors, agricultural product demand should be considered before developing any integrated resource management organisation in any region (Csavas, 1992).
Need help with a related project topic or New topic? Send Us Your Topic