Fishers’ indigenous knowledge system of fish harvesting and processing in Ibeno Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze fishers’ indigenous knowledge system of fish harvesting and processing in ibeno Local  Government area of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Ninety five respondents were drawn from six fishing settlements in the area with the aid  of structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentage, frequencies and mean were used in analyzing data  obtained. The inferential statistics used were logit and multiple linear regression analysis. The result revealed that majority of the fishing  populations were men (78.95%), 31-40 years (38.95%), married (51.58%) and had secondary education (41.05%). The most utilized  harvesting tools/techniques were fishing net, handpicking, use of basket, hook and line and local ponds. Smoking, roasting, salting and  freezing were the most utilizing processing methods used. The study revealed that fish harvesting and processing is affected by some  critical factors that include lack of capital, lack of processing facilities, lack of storage/preservation facilities, community regulations, lack  of market, seasonal variation in weather, among others. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to test the null hypothesis that  stated that socio-economic characteristic is not significant in determining fisher folks’ knowledge of fish harvesting and processing. The  result showed that the explanatory variables, such as sex, education level, fishing experience and extension contact were significant in  determining fishermen’s knowledge of fish harvesting and processing. Thus, the null hypothesis was rejected. It is recommended that  government should invest in training fisher folks on the use of modern fishing equipment such as trawlers, so as to reduce the risk of  local fishing methods such as hand picking and cutting. Also, government should provide incentives in form of capital, soft loans and mechanical facilities to enable fisher folks engage seamlessly in fish harvesting and processing, thereby increasing their overall standard  of living.