62 June 2010 and micronutrient requirements. The water bodies are also sources of fingerlings for pond production. Natural resources, such as cow dung and poultry droppings, are used in fertilizing fish ponds. Social capital: This refers to networks, membership of groups, relationships of trust and access to wider institutions of society upon which people draw in pursuit of livelihoods. Fishing communities are organized into self-help associations, such as fishermen or multipurpose cooperative societies through which they get financial assistance. Although there are health institutions in some fishing villages in Nigeria, they commonly lack drugs and qualified health personnel, resulting in fishing communities consulting traditional healers or resorting to Islamic and Christian preachers for solutions through prayers and charms at little or no monetary cost resulting in mutual support. Human capital: Human capital represents the skills, knowledge, ability to work and good health that are important to the ability to pursue different livelihood strategies. Fishermen use various materials such as branches of trees, elephant grass, PVC pipes and wornout tires in the construction of fish parks to aggregate fish, which means that they have local knowledge and skills necessary to improve fish production from water bodies. The substrates used in the construction of fish parks and fish fences can be produced within the local farming systems, with the fishermen using their own labor and resources. The dependency of fishing communities on fish is high and while fish production has remained good this has a positive impact on their health. Physical capital: Physical capital includes basic infrastructures (such as transport, shelter, water, energy, and communications and production equipment that enable people to pursue their livelihoods). Very few of the fishing settlements in the coastal areas are accessible by roads. The only viable means of transportation include canoes and boats. The terrain, (creeks and estuaries) are difficult to reach by research providers, extension agents and teachers, thus alienating the fishing villages from capacity building and identification of needs. Lack of good roads also makes transportation of fish to urban markets where prices are better more difficult. However, large-scale development of aquaculture can lead to better communications into rural areas, inasmuch as they are needed also for proper management of aquaculture production and distribution. Lack of good drinking water in fishing communities could result in waterborne diseases. Lack of electrification affects processing of fish by refrigeration and also limits potential for media communications. Housing in most of the fishing communities is poor. The majority of the homes are temporary or semi-permanent structures with walls and roofs of huts made of bamboo and thatch. The vast majority of the fishermen live in poor conditions in remote and isolated areas. Financial capital: This refers to financial resources that people use to achieve their livelihoods whether savings, supplies of credit or regular remittances or pensions. Most of the fishermen and fish farmers have no access to formal sources of credit. Their main sources of investment capital are their own meager savings. Farm animals are occasionally used as sources of capital. This is quite limited and can hardly meet the financial requirement of fish production and improved technology. Vulnerability context Vulnerability context refers to shocks, trends and seasonality that affect the livelihoods of the fishermen. Shocks: Floods, storms, tides, multiple user conflicts and poaching are shocks that affect fishing communities. Traditional authorities play a prominent role in controlling poaching and in conflict resolution, especially in Niger state, resulting in the reduction of the vulnerability (Gomna 2005). Trends: A trend, such as increase in population, presents a formidable challenge to food security and employment. In the coastal communities, population densities per habitable area are high, inasmuch as the wetland ecology of the region restricts habitation to relatively small area. This, therefore translates to higher pressure on the fisheries resources that are the bedrock of these coastal communities’ livelihoods. Increased incidence of sexually transmitted diseases such as gonorrhea and HIV/AIDS may affect fish production because infected people might not be able to continue with fish production. Sexually transmitted diseases could also lead to social disruption and more costs for health care, resulting in increased financial burden. Seasonality: Fishing is highly seasonal. Catches may vary between dry and rainy seasons because of differences in fish behavior. In flooding rivers, seasonality in the fishery is much pronounced and is subject to a combination of temperature and hydrological conditions. Seasonality is linked to the flood cycle or to the behavioral characteristics of the fish (Welcomme 2001) and affects the livelihoods of fishermen. Seasonal shifts in employment opportunities, such as crop farming and petty trading are ways by which fishing communities effectively minimize the vulnerability context (Gomna 2005). Fishermen are also vulnerable because of post–harvest losses as a result of poor processing methods and lack of refrigeration facilities resulting in them selling their catches at giveaway prices. Transforming structures and processes Transforming structures and processes are the institutions, organizations, policies and legislation. The institutions and policies of the transforming structures and processes have profound influence on access to assets. Understanding institutional processes allows for the identification of barriers and opportunities to sustainable livelihoods. Awareness of the problems of fishing communities and the need for proper management, control and sustainable exploitation of artisanal fisheries resources prompted the establishment of two fisheries research institutes in Nigeria in 1975, the National Institute for Freshwater Fisheries Research (NIFFR) and the Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research (NIOMR). NI-
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