The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Bukar Hassan, said harnessing the huge potential in fisheries and aquaculture will give an added impetus to the realisation of Nigeria’s objectives of wealth creation, food and nutritional security in the Gulf of Guinea.
He said this during the opening of the 10th annual Ministerial Conference of the Fisheries Committee of the West Central (FCWC ) Gulf of Guinea in Abuja.
The Permanent Secretary, who was represented by the Director, Agric Business and Marketing in the Ministry, Alhaji Musbahu Azeez, stated that this year’s annual conference was unique because it marked the beginning of another milestone in the history of FCWC as it celebrates its 10th anniversary and excellent performance in fisheries management, promotion of fish trade, fight against illegal unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing and regional cooperation among member states.
He assured the participants that the Ministry’s support of the noble objectives of the committee, especially in ensuring that the fisheries resources of the sub-sector was sustainably exploited and managed for the present and future generation of the member states.
He commended the organisers of the conference for coming up with the theme, “Investment for Growth and Sustainability in Fisheries in West Africa”, which he said was apt and very timely.