The land border closure by the federal government is a blessing to fish farmers in the country, says Rotimi Oloye, the National President, Catfish Farmers Association of Nigeria (CFAN). The CFAN national president made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan recently. Mr. Oloye said while the borders were opened, some illegal activities were on, some fishery and poultry products were imported which did not better the lots of the farmers. He said that since the borders were closed, fish farmers were back to work with increased volume of production, more employment and wealth generated with adequate sustenance of the industry being witnessed.

He said: “We were having a very serious issue at hand before border closure, fish (was) everywhere in the country. “Farmers were begging to sell even on credit despite poor pricing because continuous holding means increased cost by feeding, security and interest on borrowed fund. “But two weeks after border closure, there was no fish to meet demand any more. When there is reduction in smuggling of fish, especially frozen and low-quality fish from outside Nigeria, the demand for local fish will surely increase”, he added. Premium Times