African group warns against proposed release of genetically improved tilapia

FishNet Alliance has cautioned against the proposed plan to introduce genetically improved Tilapia fish into Nigeria.

FishNet Alliance is a network of fishermen in many African countries. According to them, the ‘artificial’ variety of tilapia, if allowed into Nigeria, would cross breed and eventually lead to extinction of the natural variety as well as distorting the rich biodiversity of the nation.

The coalition called on the Federal Government to withhold regulatory approvals for the release of the artificially altered fish variety until the biosafety concerns around the variety was addressed and regulatory authorities strengthened.

The group stated this on Friday in a statement by its Coordinator, Mr Stephen Oduware.

The alliance explained that the improved tilapia was to be introduced following “an inclusive legal agreement” between WorldFish and Premium Aquaculture Limited through a programme on genetically improved farmed Tilapia (GIFT).

It said according to the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission “this agreement will lead to the establishment of a GIFT-based aquaculture industry in Nigeria.”

The group noted that Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) were collaborating with WorldFish and PAL on the endeavor.

FishNet said the aim of the collaboration was to have WorldFish/PAL GIFT tilapia in Nigerian fish markets by late 2023.

It said that it was concerned that apart from the environmental and health challenges, it was unclear which agencies of government had had a hand in this transaction.

FishNet said: “Improved Tilapia will not tackle the root cause of challenges in the fisheries sector in Nigeria. Neither will it solve the hunger and malnutrition problems in the country.

“The issues affecting the Nigerian fisheries sector namely: pollution due to oil and gas and other minerals exploration and exploitation; insecurity and piracy; illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities of national and international trawlers

“Indiscriminate activities of trawlers lead to overfishing of both target and non-target species of fish; destruction of the mangrove forests amongst other issues – are matters that the government should focus attention on.

“The genes used to improve the tilapia could have come from a variety of organisms, including other fish, coral, mice, bacteria, or even humans.

“They are basically produced to suit industrial aquaculture models with doubtful regard for possible ecological, environmental concerns.

“Fish farming in Nigeria is done mostly close to the river or in the creeks and there are fears that there could be interactions between the ‘genetically improved’ fish and their relatives in the wild.

“If such fish were genetically engineered, research has shown that releasing as little as sixty fish into a wild population of 60,000 would lead to the extinction of the wild population in less than 40 fish generations.”

It also called for increased transparency, accountability and public engagement before considering approving new life forms into the country’s environment and biodiversity.

The statement also quoted Executive Director of Home of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF)  Dr Nnimmo Bassey, as opposing the idea while reacting to moves to release genetically improved tilapia into Nigeria.

It said: “The Nigerian environment is already bedeviled with many genetically engineered crops and products of which farmers and consumers are not aware of.

“We are concerned that the introduction of genetically improved tilapia may be a step towards the introduction of genetically engineered fish into the country.

“Moreover, we are not aware that there was consultation with the majority of fishers and consumers in the country before the so-called inclusive agreement that opened the door for this tilapia species was signed.”