STAFF WRITER
MINISTER of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform Inge Zaamwani-Kamwi has hinted at the introduction of further strict measures and penalties against fishing of pilchards following fears of illegal fishing on Namibian waters.
She told Parliament on Wednesday that the moratorium put in place to protect pilchard population from depleting from Namibian waters.
“ At the onset I would like to inform this August House and the public that, currently, there is no targeted pilchard fishing taking place owing to a moratorium on pilchard fishing in 2018.
“This moratorium was necessitated by three consecutive years of zero biomass, indicating critically low stock levels. Therefore, the moratorium remains crucial to facilitate the recovery of the pilchard population to biologically sustainable levels,”
Zaamwani -Kamwi said.
This comes after fears of rampstake illegal fishing of pilchards on Namibian waters bus suspected Angolan vessels.
Namibia initially stopped the fishing of pilchards to protect them from depleting.
The minister told law makers that the population is below the 1million metric tones threshold needed as a base mark.
“it is reasonable to state that current enforcement measures and associated penalties are proving insufficient to deter illegal fishing of pilchard.
The Ministry is, therefore, actively exploring a range of measures to enhance compliance within our fisheries
subsector. These include, but are not limited to, revision of the current moratorium, implementing stricter bycatch limits, revising the landed value of species to deter pilchard bycatch, deploying more advanced monitoring and surveillance systems, and a significant revision of the current penalty regime to introduce tougher penalties for non-compliance,” she said.
She added that the ministry plans to consult internally with scientist in order to assess pilchard stock.
“ While recent surveys show a positive recovery trend, with the current pilchard stock estimated at 850,000 metric tons, it remains below the 1-million-metric tons
scientific sustainable spawner biomass target.
“Given that the pilchard fishery is a relatively short-lived specie, their population is highly susceptible to environmental factors that can lead to significant mortality. Thus, ensuring that the stock reach biologically sustainable levels is crucial to buffer against these natural fluctuations and ensure the long-term health of the species,”she said.
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