Abstract

Olajumoke Akingba, Ademola Afolabi and Patrick Ayodele

The status of artisanal fishery in the waterside of Ondo State, Nigeria was studied between 2009 and 2010. The major objective of the study was to update knowledge on the socio-economic indices, fishing gears and prime catches of the fisher folks in five fishing communities in the area. Data related to socio-economic indices of the fisher-folks were obtained through structured questionnaire and in-depth guided interviews, and were subjected to descriptive statistical analysis. Photographs of the gears in use were taken by digital camera (Aqua sprite water camera model DC 1131 8Mega pixel) and both the gears and their catches were subsequently identified and classified. The data obtained revealed that fishing was mostly the profession of the young persons and that the educational level of fisher folks was high in the area. Findings also showed that 66% of the fisher folks in the area were professional fisher folks while 34% were classified as hobby group fishers, and that the average annual household income of fisher folk households was higher than the income of most government/public employees holding equivalent qualifications in the neighbouring area. The gears used by the fisher folks across the study locations consisted mostly of cast net (66%), gill net (14%), hooks and line (08%), fyke net (06%), conical/cone traps (04%) and seine net (02%). The gear-catch compositions were cast net (tilapias and bonga), hook and line (Sardinella eba), gill net (Clarias gariepinus, Heterotis niloticus, Polydactylus quadrifilis and Psuedotolithus typus) and seine net (flat fish and tilapia species). The fishery of the area could support the strides towards employment generation, poverty alleviation and supply of animal protein to the teeming Nigerian population.