Fish
By Aminu Ahmed Garko
Minna, April. 5, 2018 (NAN) A don, Prof. Olusegun Oyero has called for the adoption of an improved and efficient technology to control fish post-harvest losses in the country.
Oyero, Professor of Water Resources, Aquaculture and Fisheries Technology of the Federal University of Technology (FUTA) Minna, made this known in a statement issued by Mrs Lydia Legbo, spokesperson of the institution.
He spoke at the 63rd Inaugural Lecture of the institution in Minna.
The lecture was titled: “Care for Fish Out of Water: A Veritable Post-Harvest Strategy for Food Security in Nigeria”.
He said fish post-harvest losses had worsened the food and nutrition insecurity and increased the country’s reliance on imports thereby wasting scarce resources.
He called on government at all levels and non-governmental organisations to invest in mass production of enclosed drying systems and charcoal-fuelled improved traditional smoking kilns for the use of small scale fish processors.
Oyero stressed the need for product development from fish, saying “it is an important raw material for various industrial usage’.
According to him, such will help to increase the utilisation of fisheries resources in the country.
The don recommended a national assessment of losses along the post-harvest chain to enable Fish Post-Harvest Losses (FPHL) researchers to quantify efforts put in curtailing such losses.
He also recommended the education of fishermen and all stakeholders involved in processing and preservation on the need for proper fish handling practice.
He said providing support facilities such as processing shed at landing sites and markets would help check spoilage. (NAN)
AAG/COA/GY
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Edited by Constance Athekame/Grace Yussuf