Africa-Press – Namibia. THE Namibian government is pushing to conduct the annual fish quota auction earlier than usual, after the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) failed to utilise their allocation last year, due to time constraints.
The DRC acquired 27 300 metric tonnes of horse mackerel freezer quota through the Namibian auction system for N$85,7 million last year but are yet to utilise it. Fisheries spokesperson Uaripi Katjiukua on Friday said the ministry wants the process to be done ahead of time.
“[Fisheries minister Derek] Klazen was expressing his concerns regarding the late auctioning of the governmental objective quota, which combined with other factors resulted in quotas bought on auction not being caught before the expiration of the fishing season on 31 December 2021, especially for the horse mackerel sub-sector,” she said.
Katjiukua added that the ministry is still deciding how to deal with the pending DRC quota. “Presently, no position on this matter is at hand and as soon as a position on the way forward is established, a press statement may be issued,” said Katjiukua.
A source in the fisheries ministry told The Namibian that this year’s auction was delayed by the pending decision on DRC’s catch. “Cabinet must first deal with the elephant in the room around the DRC quota. They will hopefully sort the matter out during the Tuesday Cabinet meeting,” said the source.
Meanwhile, companies in the fishing industry including Seaflower Pelagic Processing (SPP) have expressed disappointment over the delays. SPP general manager Anton Burger said they were expecting the quota to have been advertised in January.
“In the absence of the auction, we were also successful this year to sign up the wet horse mackerel quota holders. However, if the quota is announced by April and we can secure more, we would be in a good position for this fishing season,” he said.
Sakaria Kandenge, the chairperson of the community-based non-profit, Eshisha Development Organisation, which also failed to catch its allocation, said they could not utilise their allocation after being snubbed by vessel owners.
“We have approached the minister of fisheries for an extension. We also asked him to extend the fishing quota period or intervene with any other solution within his power to avoid a degenerating situation on this important national investment. We are still waiting for a favourable response from the minister,” said Kandenge.
For More News And Analysis About Namibia Follow Africa-Press
