Challenges of Artisanal Fishing and Livelihood in Geidam Local Government Area, Yobe State, Nigeria.

Fishing is one of the major economic activities and livelihood among communities. This marketing is attracting people on daily basis due to numerous benefits attached to it. This research examines the challenges affecting the artisans in the fishing business at Geidam local government area, Yobe state. Questionnaires were distributed to 100 artisans in the fishing business at the study area, 76 men and 24 women. Simple percentage was used to analyze the data collected from the respondents. Findings revealed that the major challenges affecting the artisans include: thefts, road accident, tree storms, lack of modern storage facilities, and lack of capital. Government should therefore support the artisans in terms of modern storage facilities such as cold room at subsidized rate, also, deploy professional fishery officers to help and improve sustainable fishing practice in the study area. The officers could educate the fishermen about hygienic and effective practices, give training on issue of illicit use of gears, and educate the communities about the nutritional benefits on fish products.


Introduction:
Fishing involves many activities and processes such as catching, processing preservation, distribution and marketing of all landings Moses (2002) and Omorinkoba et al., (2011). It involves all the processes of taking the fish from the water up to the final consumers. Small scale fishing have been observed to be important part of the rural economy in many part of Nigeria, and have supported the livelihood of thousands of rural people for whom national and state government are remote and ineffective meeting their needs Nailand et al., (2005). According to Eyo (1992) and Akeredolu (1990), the sector serves as an income source, facilities development of cottage industries and provides employment opportunities for the myriad people engaged in the fishery production, processing and marketing. It equally serves as an important protein supplement to meat protein, more so because of the persistent rise in cost of meat Oladeji and Oyesola (2002). The artisanal fisheries sector supplies about 90% of the domestic need in Nigeria, with the balance coming from industrial sector, largely regarded as fish imports FDF (2007). Omorinkoba et al., (2011) reported that the inland water bodies in Nigeria are estimated at over 14 million hectares that are being fished predominantly by artisanal fishermen. Dew et al., (2009) observed that fish are major sources of livelihood, providing direct and indirect employment to over 200 million of people of the world, majority of who live in the developing world. The sector has been very important as it contributed about 50% of the animal protein intake of the country's population especially the resources poor in Nigeria Ahmad and Yusuf (2014).

Research Methodology:
The study utilizes survey method with questionnaire as the instrument used in data collection. The population of this study consist of all actors involve in artisanal fishing in Geidam local Government area, Yobe state. 100 respondents were drawn from the study population using sloven`s formula. Therefore, stratified and purposive random sampling procedure was adopted. The populations consist of both males and females.

Data Analysis:
All data collection procedures were selfadministered. Quantitative data was analyzed in SPSS version 20 using Descriptive statistics and percentage was used in analyzing the data. One hundred (100) copies of questionnaires were distributed to respondents that participate in the study. Out of which 76 were males while 24 were females.

Discussion:
The study revealed the work and livelihood activities of the people involved in artisanal fishing and how their positions along the fish production value chain affect their well-being.
As shown in  Table 1:2, shows the types of products the fishermen sell in the study area. 14.5% male and 12.5% female sell their products fresh (unprocessed), 34.2% male and 66.7% female stored their products, 51.3% male and 20.8% female sell their product after they processed it. This shows that majority of female fishermen store their product, which is subjected to numerous factors of spoilage.   Adger et al. (2004), in the case of fisheries, people may be exposed to physical risks (waves and high winds accident while hauling nets).

Conclusion:
Based on the findings, fishing activity is important in the lives of major players in the study area. The major fish gear used by the fishermen in the study area is gill net and most of the products are sold in processed form. Some of the challenges faced by the fishermen in the study area that hinder the realization of their potentials are road accidents, tree storm and common diseases like malaria.

Recommendations:
In order to improve upon the participation in the fishing industries and empower them economically, the following recommendations were made: 1. Although the fishermen claimed they have an association in the study area, there is need to mobilize corporative society which will serve as a platform for empowerment creation of awareness on the hazard faced by the fishermen in the study area. 2. Government should support the fishermen with modern techniques of fish processing such as cool room at subsidize rate. 3. To prevent the declining trend of the fishery resources in the study area, there is need to develop alternative source of income to substitute practices that are negatively impacting presented source of income and livelihoods.