Nigeria has been re-certified to export shrimps to the United States of America and commended for maintaining international best practices in shrimps production.
The Fisheries Gear Specialist of the US Department of Commerce, Mr Jack Forrester, disclosed this during the United States Turtle Excluder Device (TED) inspection team’s visit to re-certify Nigeria’s export rights.
He explained that the re-certification was coming on the heels of the nation’s resilience to maintain global best practices despite experiencing macro-economic challenges.
Forrester also stated that of the 16 countries in Africa certified to export shrimps to the US, Nigeria’s has remained the number one preferred nation to export the commodity to the United States, reports VON.
He commended Nigeria for maintaining international standards and called on the Federal Government to enforce the usage of TEDs in order to prevent turtles from going extinct.
According to him, the certification process, which is carried out on annual basis, will go a long way to ensure that Nigeria not only maintains its international best practices in shrimp production but also captures a huge portion of the 90 per cent untapped shrimp market in the US, which is largely import-dependent.
“There are 16 other countries in Africa that are certified. Nigeria is certainly on top of the list for countries that are compliant and doing a very great job. We have only inspected three or four boats, but everything looks perfectly fine and I do not see any problem doing business with Nigeria. Without a doubt we will be able to continue the certification with Nigeria because you are doing a great job,” he explained.
Forrester said: “We did a very thorough inspection in 2013 because it had been so many years we were here before. This is more of a routine inspection. Although, we are not looking at all the boats, but we are inspecting a reasonable number to ensure that the fishermen are using the Turtle Excluder Device (TED) and to see if the government is enforcing the use of TEDs.”
International Standards
He noted that the United States was the number one in shrimp consumption country in the world, stressing that the US shrimps market only supplies about 10 per cent of what is consumed in the United States.
Earlier, the President, Nigerian Trawler Owners Association, Mr. Akinsola Amire, said the US inspection is a done deal, maintaining that Nigeria has been complying with international standards.
“The issue of TED is just a form of ensuring the biodiversity of our waters to ensure that we do not have turtles going into extinction. There is need to maintain the biodiversity of the aquaculture and we are achieving this feat,”he said.
He pointed out that in 2005, his association was the fourth largest non-oil foreign exchange earner for Nigeria, calling on the government to provide infrastructural facilities that will make local and foreign investments thrive in the country.
“The government is not helping matters. The Export Expansion Grant (EEG) for the past five years have not been given and even those that were given, it has been hard to retrieve. The incentive is not there. We need government in anything we do and they must provide infrastructural facilities to make the environment conducive for business to thrive”, he argued.
The Director, Federal Department of Fisheries (FDF), Mr. Aderemi Abioye, said the government of Nigeria is very pleased with the success recorded in the previous exercises conducted in the past years.
According to him, the re-certification of the country for export right of shrimps and allied products caught in the wild to the United States’ market has been successful.
He noted that to sustain the export right and strengthening trade relationships, both countries have continued to be made to implement the TEDs programme with zeal to ensure that it does not suffer a set back.
Beyond the sustenance of export right for shrimps and allied products to the US markets, successful implementation of TEDs programee is of paramount importance to the government of Nigeria.
It is also in tandem with the global shift from single species fisheries management to that which ensures the well being of the whole ecosystem.
Posted by Janice Johnson
