ASSESSMENT OF FISHERY COOPERATIVE EFFECTS ON MEMBERS PERFORMANCE IN RIVER STATES NIGERIA

Abstract

Fisheries constitute an important sector in Nigeria agriculture, providing valuable food and employment to millions and also serving as source of livelihoods mainly for rural dwellers in coastal communities. However, Nigeria fish production volume of 0.5 tonnes cannot meet the annual demand of 1.3 million tonnes. Average annual fish consumption in the country has, therefore stagnated at 9.2kg per capita, a situation that resulted in a huge supply and consumption gap. The study, therefore, had its thrust on assessing the effects of fisheries cooperative societies in enhancing its member’s performance in Rivers State. Data were obtained from 360 cooperative fishermen from 12 purposively selected Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Rivers State. Data obtained were analyzed with both descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings revealed that, the respondents were of low educational background and that affected their initiative to improve the technique in the fish production, as well as management of the fishing business. It was also revealed that the distance covered in the fishing exploit; and, fishing experience, had significant influence on the fishermen returns as fishermen who went far made more catch. Also, the findings from the study gave evidence that there are three major sources used in the fishing exploit, namely; deep sea approach; the riverside; and, the creek. It was observed that more fishermen preferred the creek as fish tend to hide at the creek, followed by the riverside approach, with few exploiting the deep sea. The findings further revealed that fishermen are faced with various degrees of challenges which range from pollution, climate change/bad weather, financial challenge, storage and processing facility, as well as high cost of fishing tools. From the study, the researcher recommends amongst others, that fishermen in Rivers State should endeavour to engage in group fish farming through the formation of cooperative societies and that government should provide basic education for these fishermen and their households. Lastly, financial institutions should encourage the fishermen with credit facilities to boost their fish production.