Mr. Sikiru Yusuff

Florida International University

Bio

Sikiru Yusuff is a Ph.D. candidate and Presidential Fellow in the Department of History at Florida International University in Miami, Florida. His research focuses on the social and environmental history of animals in colonial Africa, with particular emphasis on Nigeria. His dissertation examines the transformation of Nigeria’s fisheries and how colonial efforts to develop aquatic resources shaped capitalist agendas, environmental and economic policies, foodways, nutrition, and human–animal relations in twentieth-century Nigeria.

From Experimentation to Development: The Rise of Fisheries Science in Colonial Nigeria, 1940-1945

Abstract

This paper traces the emergence of fisheries science in colonial Nigeria, focusing on the interwar years, experimental efforts, and the mainstreaming of fisheries as a colonial development policy. Until the 1940s, Nigeria’s aquatic resources were underexplored, and their productive potential was unknown. Following a sharp decrease in fish importation amid shortages of other protein sources during the interwar years, Nigeria’s coastline became a site for advancing colonial scientific investigation and technical intervention.