BIO 220- Fishery and Wild Life

Nigeria occupies between 4 0 16’ – 130 52’N and longitude 2 0 49 – 14 0 37’E and a coastline of approximately 850km bordering the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean. Consequently, Nigeria is a maritime state with the establishment of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 200 nautical miles in 1978. The major geomorphologic features of the Nigeria continental shelf include the Avon, Mahin and Calabar Canyons. Other geomorphic features are sand banks in the inner continental shelf especially off river mouths and the deep seated of Romanche, Chain and Charcot fracture zones which originate in the mid- Atlantic ridge. There is numerous inland water bodies in Nigeria estimated at about 12 million hectares which are fairly rich in fresh water fishes. The marine waters are however not too rich in fin fish resources, but are found to be rich in shrimp and tuna resources. There are two main sub-sectors that contribute to the Nigeria’s fish production. They are capture fisheries and aquaculture.