FISHING EXPERIENCE AND INFORMATION AMONG ARTISANAL FISHERS IN LOWER RIVER BENUE, MAKURDI, BENUE STATE, NIGERIA

Information preference plays a major role as it determines the success that can be achieved in any chosen profession in life. It is on this basis that the study investigated fishing experience and information preference among artisanal fishers in lower river Benue, Makurdi, Benue State. The list of 269 registered artisanal fishers in two landing sites - Wadata and North Bank in Makurdi was obtained from Benue State Agricultural Development Programme (BESADP). Simple random sampling technique was used to select 80% (215) of the artisanal fishers from the list. A structured questionnaire and interview scheduled were used to obtain information from the artisanal fishers. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics (frequency and percentages) while inferential analysis was done through the use of ANOVA. The results showed that majority of the artisanal fishers had more than twenty years fishing experience (41.9%), while information on endangered species (54%), fishing regulation (35.8%) and fishing license (35.3%) were mostly preferred by the artisanal fishers. Also, years of fishing experience was not significantly related to information preference. (F (4,210)= 1.015. P>0.05) among the artisanal fishers in the study area. The study therefore recommends that information on artisanal fishing should be disseminated to all the artisanal fishers without considering number of years spent in the profession.