Lagos – The Nigerian Institute of Oceanography and Marine Research (NIOMR) on Wednesday urged the Federal Government to tackle the menace caused by water hyacinth in coastal communities.
Dr (Mrs) Parcy Mobatola, the Institute’s Director, Fishery Department, gave this advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
According to her, the presences of water hyacinth in the communities have greatly affected their fishing activities and water transportation.
”Most coastal communities have fishing as their economic main base
and water hyacinth is constituting a lot of menace to this means of livelihood in the area.
”The volume of catches these days have reduced seriously and they vary from one community to another.
”This has reduced their income and lifespan of their inputs mainly the out Board engine of their fishing boats.
”The water hyacinth clogs the outdoor engines of fishing boats and the nets when they set it to catch fish,” she said.
Mobatola said that as the boats propel the engine in the water at times the water hyacinth would damage the outboard engine.
She said that the fishermen in their bid to control the water hyacinth menace condole off certain areas by erecting fence with planks in the water.
The director said that by doing this they were able to have temporary free channels or passage in the water.
According to her, as water hyacinth grows during rainy season and survive in fresh water, the government should have a strategy to curtail its growth and spread.
She stressed the need to avoid acts like dumping waste into the water as it encouraged growth of aquatic plants.
Mobatola said that water hyacinth blocks the flow of oxygen and bred snakes which killed fishes in the water.
She said that the water hyacinth could be used to produce gas that could be used for cooking.
Mobatola said government could make it a focal point of its waste to wealth programme in the coastal communities.
