Assessment of Artisanal Fisheries Activities among Fisherfolks in Borgu Local Government Area, Niger State, Nigeria

Fish is a veritable source of high-quality protein and essential vitamins and minerals that are crucial to metabolic activities in human system. This study assessed artisanal fishery activities among fisherfolks in Borgu Local Government Area, Niger State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study described the socio-economic characteristics of artisanal fisherfolks, examined the fishing practices employed by the artisanal fisherfolk, examined the fisherfolk’s perception on current level of fish production and investigated the problems/challenges facing artisanal fishing activities in the study area. A well-structured interview schedule (questionnaire) was used to elicit information from 110 artisanal fisherfolk randomly selected in the study area. Data collected was analysed using descriptive statistics in form of frequencies and percentages. Findings from the study showed that fishing in the study area was dominated by males (90) representing 81.8% of the respondents, and 33.6% of the respondents were in the youthful age bracket of 36-45 years of age. In addition, majority of the respondents have formal education, with 30.9% of them having completed secondary school, while 59.1% of the respondents were married. Furthermore, majority of the respondents (73.6%) took artisanal fishing as their main source of livelihood. The fishing systems employed by the artisanal fisherfolk included the use of canoes and motorized boats with those using canoes dominating (80.9%). This data already revealed that 73.6% of the respondents are into artisanal fishing for job creation which have reduced migration to urban cities and increase economic activities in their communities, thereby providing skilled and unskilled jobs and foreign exchange for the country while reducing youthful restiveness and anti-social activities. Young entrepreneurs have seen this opportunity, as seen in the result of this study, and are taking it up as a viable business. However, the study revealed that the fisherfolks in the study area usually lack basic social amenities and employ the most traditional gears and crafts in the fishing activity, and therefore, there is need for government to intervene and provide the most basic social amenities like roads and electricity to the communities.