Uyo — Presidential assistance is on the way for fishermen in Akwa Ibom State, who have been negatively affected by the activities of foreign trawlers off the state's coastal waters.

Responding to concerns expressed by people in this part of south-south Nigeria, where he is on an official three-day visit, President Olusegun Obasanjo promised to deploy a naval force to effectively check the illegal trawlers who are depleting the stock and quality of fish off the coast of the state.

At a meet-the-people forum organized by the Akwa Ibom governor, Obong Victor Attah, Obasanjo said the problem is not really the lack of legislation but an inadequate implementation of existing laws. He said that all he needed was to procure naval boats that could police up to 20 nautical miles off the territorial waters and arrest a few errant trawlers in order to deter others.

Obasanjo agreed with the local fishermen that the activities of the trawlers left the people of Akwa Ibom with lower quality fish and shrimp, which impacted negatively on their nutritional and economic well-being. Sitting beside Attah, who nodded in agreement, the president said he was in the process of strengthening the nation's navy to perform the additional roles as requested by the people of Akwa Ibom.

Governor Attah said he is encouraging local fishermen to operate inland fishing that will help them avert the problems of the trawlers as well as the disastrous consequences of oil spills and sea water pollution. He said the policy would receive increased attention despite the difficulty in finding suitable sites for projects.