[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

ABUJA, 22 Aug 2005 (IRIN) - Africa needs to crank up its fish output by 20 percent over the next decade just to keep up with current consumption levels and ensure that the inexpensive source of protein remains available for the hundreds of millions of Africans that rely on it as a main part of their diet.

That was the alarm sounded by experts ahead of a four-day "Fish For All" summit that kicked off in the Nigerian capital, Abuja on Monday.

A study undertaken by the WorldFish Center showed that Africa, a continent where a third of the population is undernourished, was the only region in the world where fish supplies per capita are actually dropping.

The Malaysian-based international research organisation said that whereas there were 9kg of fish for each African every year in the 1970s, that had fallen to 6.6 kg by the end of the 1990s.

And just to maintain that reduced level of consumption for Africa's growing population over the next decade would mean a 20 percent hike in fish output, the study found.

As well as providing 22 percent of the protein intake in the region, the fishing sector provides more than 10 million people with an income and is a leading export commodity for Africa, with an annual export value of US $2.7 billion.

"There is a pressing need for strategic investments to better natural fish stocks management, develop aquaculture and enhance Africa's fish trade at every level," said Stephen Hall, the director-general of WorldFish Center.

"An immediate investment of around US $60 million would kick-start a five-pronged strategy that can quickly improve the contribution of fish to African food security," he added.

Richard Mkandawire a senior agriculture advisor to the New Partnership for Africa's Development, which has organised the Abuja summit, hopes the suggestions will be taken up.

"For a relatively small investment, the international community has an opportunity to bring about significant improvement in the well-being and physical condition of millions in Africa," he said.

One prong of the WorldFish Center's plan to avoid a fish crisis is to invest in aquaculture or small-scale fish farms. Once they have been set up, the farms require little labour and could be a nutritional and economic lifeline for millions of poor Africans.

Aquaculture has yet to take off in Africa, although it provides almost 40 percent of fish production worldwide.

But experts reckon that exploiting just five percent of Africa's aquaculture potential would be enough to meet the gap between supply and demand forecast in 2015.

The low-intensity work could also be particularly helpful in improving the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS, experts say, because fish contain proteins, vitamins and minerals that fortify the body against secondary infections and increase the effectiveness of anti-retroviral drugs.

A pilot project launched in Malawi added a fish pond to existing farms with impressive results for the people living there, according to Daniel Jamu, the WorldFish Center’s program director for southern Africa.

“Their nutrition has improved because they are eating fish and they are using the income from selling excess catch to obtain medical attention, including HIV and AIDS care and medicines,” he said.

Delegates at this week's Abuja summit, who include political leaders and fisheries and agriculture experts from 26 African countries, are expected to debate the proposals.

NEPAD officials say they expect to issue an action plan for investment in support of fish-farming in Africa by the time the summit ends on Thursday

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) - The quantity of fish available per person worldwide grew during the last two decades but declined in Africa, raising concerns about how to guarantee supplies of a main source of protein for a hungry continent.

Simple steps to increase fish farming in Africa could solve the problem - and increase jobs and improve health in the bargain, researchers said Monday as political leaders and fisheries experts gathered in Nigeria to explore how investment and new technical skills can boost dwindling fish stocks.

Africa's perennial struggles to feed itself have drawn new attention in recent weeks, with West Africa hard hit after a locust invasion last year followed by drought. Poor rains and other problems are contributing to food shortages in the east and south as well. The United Nations estimates one in three people on the world's poorest continent lack enough food each day. Experts say long-term development, not emergency aid, is the answer.

A study conducted for the New Partnership for Africa's Development, a continentwide campaign by the African Union to fight poverty and encourage economic growth, said yearly fish supplies per person around the world increased from 26 pounds in 1973 to 35 pounds in 1997. In Africa during the same period, they declined from 20 pounds to about 15.

The study by the Malaysia-based WorldFish Center also found that fish farming accounts for 38 percent of supplies worldwide, but only 2 percent of African supplies.

While experts discussed the need for the African fishing industry to adapt, fishermen on the continent said they were facing decreasing stocks because foreigners were taking fish from their waters using "drift chains" of giant nets.

"Since the early 1990s when drift chains were introduced in fishing, which go deep down to the sea and catch all sizes of fish, line fishing has deteriorated considerably," Sulaiman Kamara, chairman of Sierra Leonean Line Fishermen Committee, said in an interview in the Sierra Leonean capital of Freetown. "Security at our territorial waters should be beefed up."

Fishermen in the West African country are accustomed to catching sardines, lobster, crab, squid, octopus, grouper, kuta, bonita and shrimp.

In Nigeria, Mushin Ayinla, a fisherman who trawls the Lagos lagoon in his dugout, is worried about his dwindling catch.

"Every day we work from morning 'til night and we don't catch as much fish as in the past," Ayinla said.

"Today all we've been able to get are these small things," he added, showing his catch of tiny croakers.

Patrick Dugan of the WorldFish Center said African fishing communities have good reason to complain about the harm to their catch by foreign trawlers, some of which are in African waters on the basis of fishery agreements signed by their governments and the European Union.

"That certainly is one dimension of the problem," Dugan said. "There's a need to look very carefully at all of these fisheries agreements and foster those beneficial to African countries. But even that is not enough."

But he said there still is need to invest in aquaculture to "increase the quantity of fish and diversity of existing fish in the market."

The WorldFish Center said that to maintain current consumption levels in sub-Saharan Africa - where today some 200 million people out of a population of 690 million eat fish regularly - supplies would have to be increased by over 20 percent by 2015. But the center estimated that could be achieved by tapping only 5 percent of Africa's fish farming, or aquaculture, potential.

"Significant increases are possible with the right combination of government policy and technical interventions," Dugan said.

"Small-scale aquaculture requires low-cost labor and doesn't require much investment and effort once the ponds have been set up."

Experts believe more farming will provide opportunities for employment and improve nutrition for Africa's poor, including those affected by HIV/AIDS, a leading killer on a continent plagued by food crises.

Small fish ponds have proved a valuable resource for families hit by HIV/AIDS in Malawi, providing a source of nutrition to help boost the immunity of those infected and providing income for the families of widows and orphans, said Daniel Jamu, who works for the WorldFish Center in southern Africa.

"Their nutrition has improved because they are eating fish and they are using the income from selling excess catch to obtain medical attention, including HIV and AIDS care and medicines," he said.