Association protects fingerlings
NAN-AE-2
Protection
Dutse, Oct. 22, 2016 (NAN) The Association of Fishermen of Warwade Dam in Dutse Local Government Area of Jigawa, said it had engaged 10 guards to monitor the influx of fishermen from other states.
Malam Sabo Idris, the association’s Chairman, spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Dutse on Saturday.
Idris said that the move was to stop the fishermen from catching the fingerlings stocked in the dam by the State Government, as “they are too small to catch.”
NAN recalls that the Jigawa Government recently stocked the Warwade dam with 300,000 assorted fingerlings as part of its efforts to resuscitate fishing in the area.
The fingerlings, according to the state’s Commissioner for Agriculture, Alhaji Kabir Ali, were sourced within the country.
According to the chairman of the fishermen, all fishing activities in the dam are suspended for two years when the fingerlings must have grown.
He explained that the association decided to engage the guards in order to stop fishermen Bauchi, Kano, Kebbi, Taraba and Plateau states from fishing in the area.
“These guards are patrolling the dam for 24 hours with canoes in order to safeguard these fingerlings.
“This is because there are fishermen that come from states like Kano, Bauchi, Kebbi, Plateau and the rest of them.
“So, if care is not taken, before you know it, these fingerlings will be caught while they are still small”, Idris said.
Secretary of the association, Malam Abubakar Nuhu, commended the Jigawa government for stocking the dam with the fingerlings.
Nuhu said the gesture would go a long way in improving the availability of fish in Dutse and its environs.
He added that it would also boost fishing by the community and enhance the economic status of the fishermen.
“Not only stocking the dam with about 10 variety of fingerlings, the government also donated fishing gears such as nets, hooks, fishing containers and four canoes to us”, he said.
This, the secretary said, would also empower them to contribute meaningfully to the economic growth of their families, communities and the state.
Nuhu said that it would further make fishing attractive and reduce urban-rural migration among youths in the area. (NAN)
MNB/ORO/IEA
============
Edited by Razak Owolabi/Idahosa Asowata