Abstract

Ita Bassey, James Ibas and Edet Akpan

We reviewed the marine fisheries laws as contained in the Sea Fisheries Decrees of Nigeria promulgated in 1971, 1972 and revised in 1992. We found out that these decrees were lacking in scientific data needed to effectively enforce the laws, both for industrial and artisanal fisheries. The major habitats of the different species, their breeding and nursery grounds; the migratory movements and seasons for different species; size selection of the fishing gears for different species caught simultaneously by relevant gears; sizes at first maturity of the different species; feeding/trophic relationships of the various species; maximum and optimum sustainable yields of the resource, and the corresponding effort, are some of the missing scientific information. This paper stresses the importance of these scientific data requirements for effective policy options and sustainable fisheries management.