Nigeria is set to strengthen surveillance of its territorial waters through cooperation with Norway, using satellite-based vessel tracking to combat illegal fishing, protect marine resources and safeguard local fishing livelihoods.
Nigeria’s Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, expressed the government’s readiness to join Norway’s Blue Justice Ocean Surveillance Programme during a meeting with Norwegian Ambassador to Nigeria Svein Baera in Abuja on Monday, Channels Television reported.
The initiative provides participating countries with free satellite-based Automatic Identification System (AIS) vessel-tracking data, allowing authorities to monitor maritime activity, investigate suspicious movements and identify vessels that evade tracking.
Baera invited Nigeria to join the Blue Community, a network of countries cooperating through the initiative to strengthen maritime surveillance and tackle illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, as well as other maritime crimes.
The programme offers access to real-time and historical tracking data, which could help Nigerian authorities detect suspicious fishing activity and improve enforcement of fisheries regulations.
Oyetola warned that foreign operators were illegally harvesting fish from Nigerian waters before returning the catch to the domestic market for sale at high prices, undermining local fishers and businesses.
“We cannot continue to allow foreign operators to exploit our marine resources illegally while our local fishers and businesses suffer the consequences,” he said, according to a statement issued by his special adviser, Bolaji Akinola.
The minister described protecting Nigerian waters as both an environmental responsibility and an economic priority, saying illegal fishing threatens fish stocks, undermines local livelihoods and deprives the country of legitimate economic benefits.
He added that the government was pursuing measures to increase domestic fish production, reduce reliance on imports, create jobs and conserve foreign exchange.
The proposed cooperation would give Nigeria additional tools to monitor its waters and support investigations into suspected illegal fishing, although the ministry did not specify when the country would formally join the programme.
