Navy Directs Officers To Pay Attention To Illegal Fishing Activities On Nigerian Waters

Commanders of the Nigerian Navy ships have been directed to pay attention to the activities of fishing trawlers within Nigerian waters in order to reduce illegal fishing activities.

The directive is coming on the heels of the arrest of two Nigerian flagged fishing trawlers, BANALY V and OLOKUN V, for violating the range specified within Nigerian waters for inshore fishing and shrimping activities. The vessels were arrested around ANTAN Field which is 21 nautical miles off the Nigerian coastline.

According to a statement dated September 9, 2019 and signed by Commodore Suleman Dahun for Chief of the Naval Staff, the activities of the 2 trawlers were detected by the Nigerian Navy Falcon Eye surveillance system.

The statement read in part: “Thereafter, Nigerian Navy Ship UNITY was vectored to intercept the vessels and it was discovered that they were ladened with excess catch of fishes in contravention of the Nigerian Fisheries Act as the vessel are licensed for shrimping only.

“This eventually led to the arrest of the 2 vessels. The vessels are currently at Bonny Anchorage for further investigation and possible prosecution.

“Meanwhile, following the arrest of BANALY V and OLOKUN V, commanders of Nigerian Navy ships have been directed to pay attention to the activities of fishing trawlers within Nigerian waters in order to reduce illegal fishing activities,” the statement concluded.