Fish Import Quotas Worsening Food Insecurity, Industry Expert Warns

Managing Director of Mariplus Services Ltd, Femi Olawoore has urged the Federal Government to urgently halt the fish import quota system, warning that it is worsening Nigeria’s food insecurity and pushing basic nutrition beyond the reach of millions of citizens.
Olawoore made the call in an open letter to President Bola Tinubu titled “A Cry from the Waters: An Urgent Call to Save Nigeria’s Fish Trade.”

He described Nigeria as facing a “nutritional emergency,” driven by corruption and mismanagement within the fish import quota regime. According to him, fish remains one of the most affordable and widely consumed sources of animal protein in the country, but policy failures are steadily turning it into a luxury item.

He said Nigeria consumes between 3.2 million and 3.6 million metric tons of fish annually, while domestic production accounts for only about 1.1 million metric tons. He argued that the wide supply gap makes imports unavoidable and that restricting access through opaque quota allocations only deepens the protein deficit.

“When fish, a staple protein for the average Nigerian, becomes unaffordable, then a protein crisis is inevitable,” Olawoore said.
He further alleged that the fish import quota system, originally designed to support local production while allowing controlled imports, has been hijacked by private and greedy interests.
 He said  access to quotas has effectively become a tradable commodity, shutting out genuine operators and distorting market prices.

He further pointed out to mounting economic pressures on legitimate businesses in the sector, citing unstable foreign exchange rates, rising freight costs and high interest rates. He said these challenges are compounded by what he described as a lack of transparency among regulatory agencies overseeing fish imports.
He warned that the consequences extend beyond large operators, affecting small-scale aquaculture farmers, market women and low-income households.

“Many small businesses are gasping for survival as fish prices rise beyond what ordinary families can afford”, he alarmed.
Calling on President Bola Tinubu to intervene, Olawoore urged the Federal Government to dismantle corrupt bottlenecks in the system and align reforms with the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

“The longer this system festers, the more it endangers both our economy and our people’s health”.
He stressed that decisive action against corruption in the fish import framework would help stabilise prices, protect jobs and ensure access to affordable protein for millions of Nigerians.