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With a full tank now costing ₦35,000, fishing communities in Brass are sounding the alarm, and the government needs to listen
By Our Community blog | Published: March 10, 2025
BRASS, BAYELSA STATE — The smell of fish and brine has always defined life along the creeks of Brass Local Government Area. But these days, there is something else in the air, the bitter scent of desperation. Fishermen who have worked these waters for generations say they are being driven to the edge by one brutal reality: fuel now costs ₦1,500 per litre, and filling an entire boat tank costs a staggering ₦35,000. For communities that live and earn from the water, this is not just an economic problem. It is a survival crisis.
“We Can No Longer Afford to Go to Sea”
Fishermen across Brass LGA are speaking with one voice, and the message is clear: the cost of petrol has made their trade nearly impossible to sustain. Before the latest price surge, many boat owners were already managing on thin margins. Now, with fuel jumping to ₦1,500 per litre at local points, the arithmetic simply does not work anymore.
A typical fishing trip into the deeper channels of the Bight of Benin or the Niger Delta waterways requires a full tank, sometimes more. That single trip now demands ₦35,000 in fuel alone before any nets, food, or equipment are accounted for. On a bad fishing day, a man can return home having spent more than he earned. On a good day, he barely breaks even.
“Before, I could go out twice in a week. Now I think twice before I even start the engine,” said one seasoned fisherman who has been working the Brass waterways for over two decades. “The fish is there. The water is there. But I cannot afford to go and get it.”
A Community Built on Water, Now Stranded on Land
Brass LGA sits on a cluster of islands and creeks at the southern tip of Bayelsa State, where the Niger Delta meets the Atlantic Ocean. It is a place where fishing is not merely an occupation, it is identity, inheritance, and the primary source of income for thousands of families. There are no major factories here. There are no large offices or industrial estates. The sea feeds these people.
This is precisely why the fuel crisis hits Brass differently from other parts of Nigeria. In a city, rising petrol prices are painful but manageable; you can take a bus, cut back on driving, or find alternatives. In Brass, there is no bus. There is no land route to the fishing grounds. The boat engine runs on fuel, and without fuel, there is no fishing. Without fishing, there is no food on the table and no school fees paid.
Women who sell and smoke fish at the local markets are also feeling the pressure. As catches decline because fewer men can afford to go out, the supply of fresh fish shrinks. Prices at the market rise. Buyers buy less. The whole chain breaks down, link by link.
The Numbers That Tell a Harsh Story
The figures are difficult to look at, but they must be confronted. At ₦1,500 per litre, and with boat tanks ranging between 20 and 25 litres on average, a single tank of fuel costs between ₦30,000 and ₦37,500. The widely reported figure of ₦35,000 per tank is not an exaggeration; it is the daily reality for fishermen in Brass.
Compare this to average daily earnings. On a productive day, a fisherman in this area may bring in fish worth ₦15,000 to ₦25,000. After fuel costs, the profit, if any, remains barely enough to feed a family, let alone save for repairs, new nets, or emergencies. Many fishermen are now taking loans just to fund daily trips, sinking deeper into debt with no guarantee that the sea will be generous enough to help them repay.
Government Must Act — Before It Is Too Late
The removal of the fuel subsidy was a national policy decision with national consequences. But it is communities like Brass, already underserved, geographically isolated, and economically vulnerable, that are bearing the heaviest burden. The government, both at the federal and state levels, has a responsibility to respond with targeted interventions that protect the most affected.
What is urgently needed is a subsidised fuel programme specifically designed for artisanal fishing communities. Other countries with large fishing populations, including Senegal, Ghana, and Indonesia, provide discounted fuel directly to registered fishermen. Nigeria, with its vast coastline and millions of people who depend on fishing, must explore similar measures. Bayelsa State Government, which profits from the oil wealth extracted from these very waters, has a particular moral and political obligation to act.
Beyond fuel, there is also a need for better infrastructure, jetties, cold storage facilities, and improved access roads, where possible, that would reduce the operational costs fishermen face. A loan-to-fishermen scheme with manageable repayment terms could also provide much-needed financial relief. None of these solutions is impossible. What they require is political will and a genuine commitment to the welfare of riverine communities.
These Are My People
Writing about Brass is not a distant exercise in journalism for this reporter. These are my people. I know these creeks. I know the sound of a boat engine starting before dawn, and I know the tired eyes of a man returning with an empty net. The fishermen of Brass are not statistics; they are fathers, mothers, young men trying to build a future, and elders who have given their whole lives to the water.
When fuel becomes unaffordable, it is not just a fishing trip that is cancelled. It is a child’s school fees that go unpaid. It is a family that goes to bed hungry. It is a community that slowly loses its purpose and its pride. The ₦1,500 litre is a number. But behind that number is a way of life that is under direct threat.
The fishermen of Brass LGA are not asking for charity. They are asking for fairness. They are asking to be seen. They are asking that the people who make decisions about fuel prices and economic policy remember that there are communities in this country where the sea is not a recreational destination; it is the only road to survival.
At ₦1,500 per litre, that road is becoming impossible to travel on. The government must act urgently, specifically, and with genuine empathy for the people who call Brass home.
TAGS: Brass LGA | Fuel Price Nigeria | Fishermen Bayelsa | ₦1500 Fuel | Niger Delta | Subsidy Removal | Fishing activity updates | Cost of Living Nigeria
Fuel wahala no dey finish for Nigeria