As the global community marks the International Day for the Fight against Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing, an Environmentalist, Dr. Kingsley Wogbidi, has called on the government at all levels to come up with policies that would regulate fishing.
Wogbidi, in an interview with our correspondent, said that in Rivers State, the ministries of agriculture, natural resources, and the environment can regulate the sector and put up adequate measures to sensitize and manage the locals against indiscriminate and hazardous fishing.
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Dr Wogbidi lamented the death of fish along River banks in the state some years ago, calling for a stop to activities that cause such environmental losses. Another Environmentalist who is the Associate Dean of Social Sciences of the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Dr. Hyginus Oku, called for suitable policies that would enhance monitoring of what goes on in the waterways.
According to Dr. Oku, the discharge of toxic wastes into the seas and rivers by ship operators or passengers poses a great danger to marine life. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing activities are responsible for the loss of 11–26 million tonnes of fish each year.
