Norway invites Nigeria to join satellite vessel-tracking programme against illegal fishing

Norway's ambassador to Nigeria, Svein Baera, presented the Blue Justice Ocean Surveillance Programme to Marine and Blue Economy Minister Adegboyega Oyetola at a meeting in Abuja on Monday 12 October 2026. He invited Nigeria to join the Blue Justice Community, whose members can use real-time and historical Automatic Identification System (AIS) data collected by Norwegian microsatellites.

The data helps authorities follow vessel movements, spot suspicious activity and investigate ships that evade tracking. Launched in September 2023, the programme is free to participating countries, which can also get analytical support from Norway's tracking centre in Vardø.

Oyetola welcomed the offer and said Nigeria would take part, but the ministry gave no date for joining. Nigeria imports one to two million tonnes of fish annually to cover its supply gap.

Why it matters: Free satellite AIS data and analytical support could give Nigerian maritime and fisheries agencies a low-cost way to detect vessels that switch off their transponders. Using it will depend on agency capacity and data-handling arrangements still to be defined.