Marine fishery resources of Nigeria: A review of exploited fish stocks
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In recent years there have been several attempts to review the fishery statistical system and the state of the fishery resources of Nigeria. Nobody has found the exercise easy, for there are discrepancies between the ideal planned statistical sampling scheme and the one effectively operated. And, as details on the current system are not available, it is difficult to determine the accuracy or precision of the reported catch figures and to debias them accordingly. In these circumstances, the re still exist discrepancies between reported combined catches of the artisanal and industrial sectors and estimated yield potential of the Nigerian continental shelf. Some workers have tried to use some results of limited studies, partial sampling and isolated productivity values as rules of thumb, hoping that the inshore fisheries are more or less homogeneous and constant, and also that such results obligingly apply to the entire coastline. The trouble is, however, that the Nigeri an marine fisheries are characterized by temporal and spatial variations, and anyone studying them will soon realize the need for more basic data from the various sectors of the fishery. The complexity of the aquatic ecosystem poses a great challenge to natural science. In the first instance, a comprehensive survey of fishing units and exploited multiple species stocks presents a formidable obstacle. It is therefore understandable that fishery biologists investigating the dynamics of coastal ecosystems have to abstract general principles from the interrelationships of the many species. More recent data on activities of artisanal and industrial fleets reveal rather complicated interactions. (...)