Nigeria can produce two million tonnes of fish for local consumption, if the fish industry is properly harnessed, the President of the Association of Fish Farmers of Nigeria (AFFAN), Mr Gogwim Shiumang has said.

Shiumang said in Minna that the industry was also capable of producing fish for export.

He said that a meeting would be held to create awareness among members on ways to improve their production techniques to achieve maximum production.

The fish farmers president said that the country was producing 20 per cent of its fish need due to lack of government and public patronage of the industry.

“The general public prefers frozen chicken, frozen turkey, as opposed to fish produced locally, this is one factor militating against the growth of the industry,” he said.

The president of AFFAN called on the government to provide the necessary environment to enable the fish farmers increase their yield.

Shiumang also urged fish farmers to always use local species of fish in their fish farms instead of foreign ones that he said “can quickly become extinct and cannot adapt to our environment.”

He said that the association would provide adequate technical knowledge for more than 2,000 members drawn from fish farmers, feed producers and fish processing industries in the country.

He said: “It is important for a fish farmer to have the knowledge of the species to raise on his farm, the appropriate feeding method, how and where to sell his catch. It is one of the important things the association is focusing on at the moment.”