U n i v e r s i t y of
Portsmouth
CEMARE Research Paper 95
Developing a Fisheries
Information Monitoring
System (FIMS) for
N.E. Nigeria
A Neiland and B Ladu
U niversity o f P ortsm outh
C entre for th e E conom ics
and M anagem ent
o f A quatic R esources
L ocksw ay R oad
P ortsm outh P 0 4 8JF
U n ited K ingdom
F irst published 1996
A ll rights reserved. N o part o f this pap er m ay be
reproduced, stored in a retrievable system or transm itted in
any form b y any m eans w ithout w ritten perm ission from
the author.
For b ibliographic p u rp o ses this publication m ay be cited
as: D ev e lo p in g a fish e rie s in fo rm a tio n m o n ito rin g
sy ste m (F IM S ) fo r N .E . N ig eria , A N eiland and B Ladu,
C E M A R E Res. pa p . n o .95, 1996, 4p.
C opyright © U niversity o f Portsm outh 1996
N .B .
S ubsequently published in A quaculture News,
June 1996.
P ublished b y U niversity o f Portsm outh
ISSN 0966-792X
ODÂ R eport
D eveloping a F is h e rie s In fo rm a tio n M o n itoring
S ystem flFIMS) fo r
N ig e ria
by A rth u r N e ila n d Centre for the Economics and Management o f Aquatic Resources (CEMARE), University o f Portsmouth
and Dr Bernard Ladu Department o f Biological Sciences, Federal University o f Technology, Yola, Adamawa State, Nigeria
IN T R O D U C T IO N
Since 1993, the TM AF (T ra ditio n al M anagem e nt of
Artisanal Fisheries) project has carried out research into
the m anagem ent of artisanal fisheries in N.E. Nigeria
located in Lake Chad, the Upper River Benue and the
Nguru-Gashua Wetlands (Fig.1 .)• The main focus is to
compare the traditional and modern systems operating in
the region, and to evaluate the possibilities for communitybased management initiatives in the future.
Komadugu
Yob«
.
Rlv»r
NIGER
Sokolo
Laka
duxl
Kauila
Kaduna
Fig. 2- A rth u r N eilan d & B e rn a rd I/adu, River B enne
F lo o d p la in , N igeria
River
Bauch!
Kam i \
Rosavoir
Benue
River.
Ibadan
NORTH
Orttsha
Orteai
CAMEROON
200 miles
Atlasi
Ocean
Fig. 1. N igeria: TMAF Study re g io n s w h e re FIMS is o p e ra tin g
The 4-year project is funded under the ODA Natural
R e s o u rc e s P o lic y R e s e a rc h P ro g ra m m e and is
administered by Professor J R Beddington under the ODA
Fisheries Programme. The project is carried out under a
c o lla b o ra tiv e agreem ent betw een the U n iv e rs ity of
Portsmouth, UK, and the University of Maiduguri and the
Federal University of Technology, Yola, Nigeria.
The project leader is Arthur Neiland (M.Sc. Aquaculture
& Fisheries, Stirling, 1984), and principal researchers
include Bernard Ladu (Ph.D. Aquaculture, Stirling, 1988)
(Fig.2.).
O B JEC TIVES
A major aspect of the TMAF project has been to design
and test a Fisheries Information Monitoring System (FIMS)
to provide multi-disciplinary information on the fisheries
resource system. It is intended that the information will be
used to evaluate the perform ance and im pact of the
differen t m anagem ent system s operating locally, in
conjunction with a range of more quantitative information
collected using participatory techniques.
FIMS is also intended to demonstrate the possibilities
for fisheries monitoring as a basis for management, and in
doing so to provide a model for the future development of
such a system and database for the region by the local
fisheries authorities. The FIMS initiative is responding to
the generally perceived need for more, better and regularly
updated information on fisheries in order to assist the
management, development and policy formulation activities
of the national administration.
In a d d itio n , FIM S w a s d e sig n e d to p ro v id e the
opportunity to promote a flow of information between fishing
communities and government. This could form the basis
of an improved dialogue between stakeholders in the
fishery system , and lead to the better planning and
implementation of fisheries development schemes.
S Y S T E M D E S IG N
Research into the design of FIMS has included: a deskbased study of the experiences of other fisheries monitoring
system s in tropical fish e rie s; the id e n tifica tio n and
evaluation of key issues (e.g. data cost and pertinence)
THE ARTICLESfON THESE
PAGES OF AQUÀ£U£TUKE 'NEWS ARE FUNDED
BYTHE QVBRSEAS DEVELOPMENT
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AQUACULTURE News June 1996 27
ODA R eport
and methodologies (e.g. data types,
sam pling strategies); field trials of
p ro to ty p e d e s ig n s in 1994 plus
external reviews; and an analysis of
the results and experiences of earlier
TM AF surveys (see Neiland et al.
1994; Neiland et al. 1995).
The final design of FIMS centres
on the collection of multi-disciplinary
data covering:
•
•
•
©
•
economic characteristics of
the fishery
social aspects of the fishing
communities
biology of the fishery
resources
environmental trends
institutional features
O R G A N IS A T IO N
The organisational structure of FIMS
is shown in Fig.3. The FIMS main
office and computerised data centre
is lo ca te d in the D e p a rtm e n t of
Biological Sciences, U niversity of
M aiduguri, Borno S tate, Nigeria,
w hich is situated within one day’s
driving distance of the three major
fish e rie s being m onitored - Lake
Chad, the Upper River Benue and the
Nguru-Gashua Wetlands.
T he FIMS O ffice receives field
survey data on a regular basis from
the fisheries. The data is collected by
specially-trained TMAF enumerator
te a m s lead by e xp erien ce d field
officers (Fig.4.). Data collection has
been organised within 5 information
sub-systems:
FUIS Structwe and
Organisation
E n v iro n m e n t
Data
Fishermen
A ctiva
Fisherm en
J
THE ARTICLES ON THESE
PAGES OF AQUACULTURE
n e w s a r r íu n ’d e d ^ y t h e
o v e r s e a s 'o e v e l o p m e n t
AD M I NISTRATrpN (OD A),W ITH
THE A IM O Í INFO RM ING 'A
WIDE ÂUDIENCEOFTHE WORK
OF THE ODA FISHERIES
RESEARCH PROGRAMME.
•
•
©
©
•
environment
fish markets
active fishermen
model fishermen
head fishermen
Each sub-system uses a particular
m e th o d o lo g y in c lu d in g s p e c ific
sam pling and data collection and
analytic techniques which have been
developed and tested by the TMAF
team over 3 years. The basis ofthe
approach is to collect data from 5
different sources using a range of
survey techniques in order to gain a
go o d o v e rv ie w of the fis h e rie s .
Information from one source will be
used to validate and com plem ent
information from another.
The field data is computerised and
e n te re d in to a d e d ic a te d FIM S
database. The data is subsequently
analysed by senior staff leading to the
production of a quarterly report on the
s ta tu s and p e rfo rm a n c e of the
fisheries. The report aims to highlight
im p o rta n t re la tio n sh ip s betw een
parameters and also seeks to identify
aspects of the fishery which deserve
p a r tic u la r a tte n tio n in te rm s of
management and development.
The FIMS quarterly reports are
d is s e m in a te d to the re le v a n t
g o v e rn m e n t
a d m in is tra tio n s ,
re s e a rc h a g e n c ie s and lo ca l
communities for review and feedback.
P IL O T -S C A L E O P E R A T IO N
O utput
Feedback
Fisheries agencies and other
Inform ation usera
Fig. 3. FIMS s tru c tu re & o rg a n isa tio n
28
AQUACULTURE News June 1996
The pilot-scale operation of FIMS
com m enced in June 1995, and is
scheduled for 12 months. To date the
s y s te m
has
o p e ra te d
ve ry
successfully. The FIMS Q uarterly
Report No.1 covering the period June
- September 1995 has been produced
and distributed, and Report No.2.
(September - December 1995) is in
preparation.
I N I T I A L F IN D IN G S
The FIMS results for the period June
- September 1995 have confirmed the
im portance of the fisheries to the
re g io n by providing a m eans of
livelihood for thousands of people.
The inherent complexity of Nigerian
inland fisheries, with multi-species
fish stocks exploited by numerous
fishing communities using a large
range of gear types, within a wetlands
environment which varies in form and
distribution according to seasonal
flo o d p a tte rn s, has a ls o been
dem onstrated. A m ajor challenge
w h ic h the FIM S in itia tiv e has
addressed is how to cope with this
complexity through the development
of appropriate study methodologies,
and
to
produce
m e a n in g fu l
information on the operation of the
fis h e rie s w hich can be u sed by
managers and planners.
A summary of the first output from
FIMS is shown in Table 1. A more
detailed version (disaggregated by
b io to p e w ithin study re g io n s), is
available from the authors or FIMS
Office in Nigeria on request (address
below).
Fishing Households
T he study area for FIM S covers
thousands of hectares of tropical
w e tla n d s c o n ta in in g a large
population of fishing households (e.g.
10,000 at Lake Chad). The fishers at
this time of year came from diverse
ethnic backgrounds, a fact which was
most marked at Lake Chad with 8
ethnic groups recorded. Fishers also
came from fishing households (i.e.
rural households who fish for at least
part of the year) which obtained the
la rg e st part of their incom e from
fishing (65-88% total income in all
study regions). Farming provided the
remainder. It will be interesting to see
whether the nature of the participating
fishing households changes over the
course of the FIMS pilot year. Clearly,
in the period June-September, the
h o u s e h o ld s e n c o u n te re d w ere
heavily dependent on fishing as a
means of livelihood.
Fishing was undertaken with a
variety of gears (6-8 in each fishery),
a lth o u g h g illn e ts and se t tra p s
predominated. Plank canoes were
a significant number of fisher households who are not
earning a high income from fishing, possibly below the
poverty line, and should this group becom e a target for
development policy? High fishing income was associated
with the strong market for fish. The fish markets in all three
study regions were found to be handling large quantities
of valuable processed fish for shipm ent to the urban
markets of southern Nigeria, especially the cities of Onitsha
and Enugu, some 2-3 days away by road. The largest
market at Doron Baga at Lake Chad, handled 2,716 MT
fish valued at Naira 22 million (equivalent to US$275,000)
for June - September 1995.
Productivity & economic benefits
Fig. 4 . TMAF e n u m e ra to rs at L ak e C had
common, but largely unmotorised (Fig.5). At this time of
year the mean catch rate varied between 2.96 kg/hr at
Lake Chad down to 0.70 kg/hr for the Upper River Benue.
Catch composition was diverse (16-18 genera), although
Clarias catfish and tilapiine cichlids w ere found most
commonly in the catch.
Fishing effort and income
Fishing effort (aggregated for all gears and standardised
for gillnets) was high in all three fisheries, and highest of
all in Lake Chad (2.67 hr/100m2 gillnet/ha/month). Key
interviews with head fishermen in the fisheries revealed
that fishing effort was perceived to be increasing each year.
The extent to which fishers participated in the local fisheries
management systems varied between fisheries. In the
Nguru-Gashua Wetlands, where traditional communitybased management systems are still common, almost all
fishers had some form of permission (98%), whereas the
proportion of fishers with permission was lower (48-60%)
in the other two fisheries. The impact of the management
systems operating in the study regions will be analysed in
detail by the TMAF project in the near future.
Fishing income was found to be relatively high during
June - September 1995 in the Lake Chad (Naira 1,174/
day, equivalent to US$15/day) and Nguru-Gashua Wetland
(Naira 575/day or US$7/day) fisheries, but lower in the
Upper River Benue (Naira 77/day or US$1/day), when
compared to the income for farm labouring which was about
Naira 100/day or US$1.25/day.
Fishing was therefore an attractive occupation for rural
households, giving a potentially high return at this time of
year. Putting these figures into context, the World Bank
defines poverty as an income of below US$300/year.
It will be interesting to observe whether the relationship
between fishing and other income sources changes over
the course of the FIMS pilot year, and the implications which
this might have for fisheries management. In addition, the
extent to which "fishers” represent a homogeneous socio­
economic grouping will be examined. For example, to what
extent do particular fisheries management systems ensure
an equitable share of fishing rights and income? Are there
In comparing productivity between the three fisheries in
terms of landings weight per hectare of floodable area,
Lake Chad (97 kg/ha/yr) was found to be most productive,
followed by Upper River Benue (58 kg/ha/yr) and NguruGashua Wetlands (23 kg/ha/yr). Compared to the predicted
fish yield for tropical flooded areas of 40-60 kg/ha/yr
(Welcomme, 1979), both Lake Chad and the Upper Benue
w ere reasonably productive, but the N guru-G ashua
Wetlands had a poor level of productivity. The net economic
value of production per hectare (Naira 16-55/ha/month)
was found to be relatively high in all three study regions at
this time of year when compared to the findings of other
studies (e.g. Barbier et al. 1991 estimated a mean net
economic benefit of Naira 15/ha/month for fishing in the
Hadejia-Jama’are floodplain in N.Nigeria).
O V E R V IE W
The first set of FIMS data provides an interesting and
unique overview of the operation of the fisheries in N.E.
Nigeria during the rainy season period, June-September
1995. The fisheries w ere shown to be a significant
component of the regional economy providing a means of
livelihood for thousands of rural households. Surprisingly,
in contrast to many other fisheries worldwide, there are
preliminary indications (albeit based on 3 months data)
that the fisheries are not overexploited, either in biological
or economic terms. The fisheries appear to give a high
w eight yield per hectare of wetland, fishing income is
relatively high, and the net economic benefits per hectare
are also significant.
Despite the potential threat of overexploitation due to
the large numbers of fishers, and the stimulus to fish
intensely provided by the dem and from com m ercial
markets, there are a number of probable reasons why
overexploitation has not occurred. Firstly, the fishing
communities have a limited technical capability for fishing
at present. Modern gears and motorised fishing craft are
e x p e n s iv e and not w id e ly a v a ila b le . T he w etland
environments of the region are large, inaccessible and
subject to spatial and temporal variations in size and
distribution, and the associated fish stocks are highly
m o b ile . In a d d itio n , the s to c k s p o s s e s s am azing
regenerative capacities which will greatly offset the impact
of intensive fishing (up to a point). Secondly, there appears
/c o n t'd on pa ge 32
AQUACULTURE News June 1996 29
ODÄ I;t@p@rt
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PAGES OF A Q U A CULTUR BN EWS ARE
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W O R K ÇF T H E O D A FISHERIES:
RESEARCH PROGRAMME.
p a r tic ip a n t s le f t w ith a fa r g r e a te r
u n de rsta nd ing o f th e subject.
T h is c o u rs e w a s a im e d a t fin -fis h
h istopathology, b u t it w a s apparent from
d is c u s s io n s w ith th e p a rtic ip a n ts tha t
there is a gre at d e m an d fo r sim ilar training
on cru sta ce a n pa tholog y. It m ay be that
th is need w ill be a d d re sse d later in the
project.
End of a days fishing on the beach at Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh
H
F u n g e -S m ith , a ls o o f IA S U , w h o has
p ro vid e d inputs on the training courses.
T h e aim o f the w o rksh o p s is to provide
tr a in in g in e n v iro n m e n ta lly s e n s itiv e
m a n a g e m e n t m e th o d s d e s ig n e d to
red uce the im pact of disease, chem ical
in te rve n tio n s a n d h a rm fu l effluents. T hey
a ls o s e rv e as a u se fu l ve h icle fo r the
d is s e m in a t io n o f O D A ’ s re s e a rc h
find in gs.
Lo sses from d isea se in Thailand this
y e a r are estim a te d by som e to be in the
re g io n of 8 0 % of p ro du ction and m any
o th e r shrim p p ro du cing countries in the
re g io n have suffered sim ila r losses. W ith
th e im p a c t o f d is e a s e on the s h rim p
in d u s try and the ab sen ce of quick and
sim p le rem edies, a ssim ila tion of health
m a n a g e m e n t p ra ctice s into the general
m a n a g e m e n t o f s h r im p a q u a c u ltu re
fa cilitie s becom es increa sing ly im portant.
■
IMMUNOLOGY
T h is is a s u b je c t w h ic h e xcite s m uch
in te re s t both a s a tool fo r rapid diagnosis
a n d in the field o f v a ccin e production.
U n fo rtu na te ly, the s u b je ct is not w idely
u n d e rsto o d , and m a n y basic errors and
a s s u m p tio n s
have
been
m ade
c o n c e rn in g the im m u ne response of fish
a n d th e effica cy of vaccines. This is even
m ore evide nt in relation to the general
la c k o f u n de rsta nd ing of the crustacean
response to diseases. In order to address
so m e of these issues a basic im m unology
co u rs e w a s held in O cto b e r 1994 w hich
w a s atten ded by nine participants from
the region. T he cou rse w a s delivered by
Dr S a n d ra A dam s of IASU and generated
a lo t o f in te r e s t. A m o re a d v a n c e d
w o rksh o p is plan ned fo r la te r in 1996.
■
ANTIBIOTICS SURVEY
T h is su rve y began in the first phase of
th e p r o je c t a n d w a s c o m p le te d in
N o v e m b e r 1994. A g re a t deal o f effort
34
AQUACULTURE News June 1996
w a s put into this b y the pa rticip ants from
In d o n e s ia , T h a ila n d , P h ilip p in e s ,
M a la y s ia a n d B a n g la d e s h . W ith th e
guidance o f Dr V alerie Ing lis of IASU the
d a ta w e re c o lle c t e d a n d a n a ly s e d
fo llo w in g a r o u n d u p w o rk s h o p in
N o v e m b e r 1 9 9 4 a tte n d e d b y th e
p a r tic ip a t in g s c ie n t is t s . T h is is, w e
believe, the on ly a tte m p t that has been
m ade to pro vid e b a se lin e inform ation on
the patterns o f a n tib io tic sen sitivity and
resistance of fish an d shrim p pathogens
in th e re g io n . T h e r e s u lts a re v e ry
in te r e s tin g a n d h a v e s in c e b e e n
p re s e n te d a t th e 3 rd S y m p o s iu m on
D is e a s e s in A s ia n A q u a c u ltu re , h e ld
c o n c u rre n tly w ith the W A S m e e tin g in
B angkok in Ja n u a ry this year.
T h e b a c te ria c o lle c te d d u rin g th is
su rve y are now sto re d in A A H R I and will
be a very useful reso urce in continuing
in ve s tig a tio n s in to the d e v e lo p m e n t of
b a cteria l re s is ta n c e . It is hope d tha t a
fo llo w -u p s u rv e y c a n b e c a rrie d o u t
tow a rds the end o f the pro je ct to lo ok for
a n y changes in th e pa tte rn of resistance.
■
VIROLOGY
T h e im p ortan ce o f viral diseases is well
un derstood, how ever, fe w institutions in
the region have th e facilities to carry out
the te ch n iq u e s in vo lve d and it is still a
discipline th a t is in it's infancy. O ur contact
w ith in stitu tio n s in the region indicates
tha t the re is in te re s t in d e veloping the
te ch n o lo g y an d it w a s w ith this in mind
th a t a s h o rt c o u rs e in c e ll cultu re and
v iro lo g y te c h n iq u e s w a s pre pa red and
d e liv e re d in M a rc h 1 9 9 6 by S o m k ia t
K a n c h a n a k h a n o f A A H R I a n d S tu a rt
M illar o f IA S U . A lth o u g h the participants
m a y n o t im m e d ia te ly h a v e a c c e s s to
suitable facilities in their ow n laboratories,
th e y w e re a b le to o b ta in firs t h a n d
e x p e rie n c e o f th e te c h n iq u e s a n d to
fam iliarise the m se lve s w ith the necessary
fa cilitie s a n d e q u ip m e n t, allow ing them
to better plan fo r th e future. P articipants
HISTOPATHOLOGY
H isto pa th olo gy is o n e of the fundam ental
tools of d isea se d ia g n o sis and therefore
h e a lth m a n a g e m e n t. F a c ilitie s fo r this
d is c ip lin e a lr e a d y e x is t in s o m e
labo ratorie s in the region and, although
the techniques ca n be difficult, m an y are
used routinely. It is apparent however, that
m an y scientists u sin g the techniques lack
th e e x p e rie n c e to m a k e an a c c u ra te
diagnosis from th e fin ish e d slides. T he
training course tha t w as run at AAH R I was
d e sig n e d to a d d re s s th is de ficie n cy by
pro vid ing an u n d e rs ta n d in g of d isea se
processes an d b y in te nsive exposure to
the reading of h isto p a th o lo g ica l m aterial.
T h is was no ea sy ta s k an d it is a tribute
to both P ro fe sso r R o be rts of IASU and
Dr S up ran ee C h ina bu t o f AAH R I that the
Fish fo r sale at Nam-Ngym dani,
I/ao PDR