Economic Burden of Sand Dredging on Artisanal Fishing in Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

Environmentally detrimental input (water turbidity) and the conventional production inputs are considered within the framework of stochastic frontier analysis to estimate environmental efficiencies of each fisherman in sand dredging and non-dredging areas. Cost and return analyses show the constituents of average gross profit of fishermen in the study area. The result revealed that environmental efficiency is low among fishermen in the sand dredging areas. Educational status, experience in fishing and sand dredging are the factors influencing environmental efficiency in the sand dredging areas. The gross profit per day is higher among the fishermen in the non-dredging areas. The study affirmed large household size among fishermen. It was also revealed that fishermen in the fishing community around the dredging areas travel long distances in order to reduce the negative effect of sand dredging on their fishing activity. It is recommended that government regulate the activities of sand dredgers by restricting them to operate at non-fishing communities as well as intensifying family planning campaign in fishing communities to reduce the negative effect of high household size on fishing. The need to encourage fish rearing among fishermen to complement their meagre incomes is also imperative.