2 June 2012 Editor’s Note – Pangasius in Nigeria There has been quite a vigorous discussion on the SARNISSA listserve recently about the recent introduction of Mekong catfish (Pangasius) to Nigeria. Pangasius was brought to a private farm in Ogun state, southwest Nigeria, and has since been moved to farms in other parts of the country. I will try to summarize the main points of the discussion—paraphrasing, interpreting, or quoting the dialogue. In many ways, it’s the same old story: unscrupulous and self-interested businessman ignores or is in collusion with government regulators and politicians. The story points out how difficult it is to have sustainable development—of any kind—when government institutions are weak and accountability is low. There is great concern about the potential environmental costs of the introduction, with reasonable speculation that the migratory Pangasius is likely to escape and become established because conditions in many river systems in tropical Africa are similar to those of the Mekong River system. Within ten years, it seems likely that reproducing populations of Pangasius in the wild will become a reality. Nigerian participants in the discussion have expressed shame and outrage, calling the introduction a “crime against biodiversity” and “species pollution.” The Pangasius introduction is perceived to have “spoiled” and done a “disservice” to the hard work and investments made by many people over many years to build the commercially successful Clarias aquaculture sector in Nigeria, which is now the leading catfish producer in Africa. The introduction is seen as a distraction from a focus on a single species (in this case Clarias gariepinus), an ingredient in the success of commercial finfish aquaculture sectors in the US, Norway, Chile, and Vietnam. Nigerian fish farmers have a perfectly good catfish, with an established commercial sector, and now “the next big fish” has arrived. The fact of the introduction can be seen as symptomatic of weak governance and an example of a failure of government regulatory institutions. Environmental managers and regulators within government are entrusted to act in the public’s best interest to protect and manage public resources. The introduction, an act driven by collusion between politicians and an economic elite, undermines good governance. An open and transparent process and well-established, internationally approved biosecurity protocols that include a formal environmental risk assessment were not followed. Now that the introduction has been made, Nigerian government resource managers are in a difficult position to manage the consequences. Nigeria does not have the resources in money and manpower to manage the risk of an invasive species introduction. There was a call to eradicate the fish in Nigeria and to bring the responsible parties to account. As is the case anywhere, in assessing the risk of introductions, a prudent and precautionary approach is needed, one that anticipates the worst case: fish will reproduce in the wild, displace native species, and transmit diseases. Some blame for the introduction goes to farmers them- (Continued on page 9) Society 2 Editor’s Note — Pangasius in Nigeria 3 President’s column 3 Awards presented by NAA 4 Susan Ball Chamberlain: A retrospective 6 USAS Conference roundup 7 Ted Batterson receives Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award from USAS 8 Student activities and awards in Las Vegas 10 Latin America and Caribbean Chapter President’s report 11 USAS Chapter President’s report 12 Asian Pacific Chapter update 14 Korean Chapter update 45 Australian Aquaculture Award winners announced 66 Book Review 67 Calendar 72 Advertisers’ Index 72 Membership Application
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