Shellfish resources in Nigeria

Nigeria is a coastal state with a coastline of 853km which lies between 4o 10’ to 6o20’N and longitude 2o 45’ to 8o 5’ E. The Nigerian coastline stretches from the Western border with the Republic of Benin to the eastern border with the Cameroon Republic. Some of the coastal characteristics which are of importance to the Nigerian inshore demersal fisheries are the presence of thirty-six estuaries and the prominent Niger Delta which provides suitable habitat for the penaeid shrimps, finfish and other living marine resources. Nigeria has a wide variety of shellfish resources ranging from the molluscs such as ark clams (Senila senilis), cockles costatum), periwinkle (Tympanotonus fuscatus) to the crustaceans which includes the penaeidae (shrimps), palaemonidae (prawns), portunidae (swimming crabs) and palinuridae (lobsters). Estimated potential yield for shellfishes is 51,760 metric tonnes. Shrimps and prawns have the highest commercial importance with production estimate between 10,000 to 15,000mt. More than half of this figure is exported to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries with shrimp market valued at US $8.6 billion. Nigeria generated about US $54million in 2005 from export of shrimps and prawns alone. This figure decreased to about US $38million in 2007 due to harassment by sea pirates and militant groups thus decreasing production from 13,767mt in 2006 to an alarming 5,995mt in 2007. However more research needs to be done to ascertain the true potential yield and environmental carrying capacity of the Nigerian shellfisheries to determine the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) so as to prevent over exploitation and consequently the destruction of the fishery. Research should also be carried out on other shellfish resources such as crabs, oysters, periwinkles and lobsters as appreciable income could be earned from their sales and export.

Includes: 2 tables.;1 fig.;11 refs.