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Namibia rebuilds its fishing industry to benefit the country’s populationIn the mere space of 20 years since its independence in 1990, Namibia has succeeded in turning its approximately 1 500-kilometre long coastline – which is hyper-arid desert along its entire length – into the source of about a third of its gross domestic product.
Namibia has one of the most productive fishing grounds in the world, but by 1990, the country’s marine resources were the scene of massive exploitation by vessels of just about every major, and minor, fishing nation of the world. That situation has been turned around in a dramatic way.
The marine environment of Namibia falls within the Benguela Current system. The Benguela Current is one of the world’s major eastern boundary current systems and is rich in pelagic and demersal fish populations, supported by plankton production driven by intense coastal upwelling. Such systems support a relatively low diversity of species, but are, at the same time, among the most productive habitats in the world.
A large number of distant water fishing nations (DWFNs) once fished off Namibia when the country was under South African rule, established after World War 2 as a protectorate under the United Nations. At that stage, a 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) had not been declared for the country. More than 300 mid-water and bottom-trawl vessels operated off the coast.
Shortly after independence, the country restructured its own Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR) in 1991, with the mission to strengthen Namibia’s position as a leading fishing nation and to contribute toward the achievement of the country’s economic, social and conservation goals.
It has had to build, almost from scratch, the full range of research and surveillance programmes that are the basic components of any fisheries administration, including the legal framework to govern the fisheries sector.
The ministry consists of three directorates, one subdivision, and is responsible for two parastatals.
Before 1998, the ministry was divided into two directorates: the Directorate of Resource Management, responsible for research activities; and the Directorate of Operations in charge of operations and administration.
In 1998, the Directorate for Policy, Planning and Economics was created as well.
Turnaround documented
In an important article entitled, “Managing Namibia’s marine fisheries; A decade of rebuilding” Ben J. van Zyl describes how the situation of an international, almost ‘free for all’ in Namibian waters was turned around.
Soon after independence, the new government announced an EEZ regime for Namibia in 1990. This resulted in a more than 90% drop in the number of unlicensed foreign vessels fishing in the area. The process of turning the fishing industry into a national asset to the benefit of the country’s own population began in earnest.
Most commercially exploited species, however, are currently nowhere near as abundant as they have been in the past. Unfavourable environmental conditions usually have accompanied these reductions in numbers, and there is evidence of cyclical booms and crashes in pilchard and anchovy populations, which predate the commercial fisheries. However, exploitation of already declining populations has doubtless exacerbated the situation.
Scientific capacity
At independence, few Namibians had any experience in fisheries research. Through assistance from donor countries and exposure to the international research community, Namibia now has a core group of fisheries scientists able to conduct monitoring and assessment work at a level comparable to that found in many countries with a much longer history of fisheries research.
At present, harvest levels are set to enable stocks to return to levels that will provide maximum sustainable yields.
While adherence to constant proportion harvesting rates has worked well for several stocks during the past decade, more sophisticated procedures will be required in the future. The formal incorporation of such concepts as reference points (either biological or economic) and the precautionary approach needs to be considered and long-term management strategies adopted.
Currently, single species assessment is used to assess commercial species except for hake and seals.
An improved, updated and dynamic ecosystem model of the trophic flows through the Northern Benguela is being built now to facilitate multi-species management for the marine resources of Namibia and possibly for the entire Benguela region, Van Zyl wrote in his article.
After several decades of over-exploitation, several of Namibia’s marine resources are showing signs of a recovery. The monkfish catches have increased since independence and this fishery is now an important component of the trawl industry.
Similarly, the hake fishery has grown since independence, although catches are still considerably below those of earlier years.
It has become clear to fisheries managers in Namibia that there is no universal recipe for good fisheries management. After independence, support for measures to rebuild the stocks made it simple to implement drastic conservation measures. The acute need to rebuild many of them was put into practice by introducing total allowable catches (TACs) for all major species.
Namibia endeavoured to adapt the modern trend in fisheries management to its own needs and develop a system based on the allocation of rights, quotas and vessel licences. The system takes into account collective international wisdom on fisheries management, but it steers clear of blindly following other models.
Legal framework
The Fisheries Act of 1992 spells out a clear and transparent process through which the minister responsible for fisheries allocates harvest rights based on criteria that ensure Namibians get a fair chance to enter the industry, and facilitates the empowerment of previously disadvantaged groups.
The transferability of quotas as practised in New Zealand and elsewhere is not regarded as the ideal system in Namibia. The Namibian fishing industry operates without subsidies. The industry pays a resource rent (quota levy) as well as a portion of the costs of research and the fisheries observers that monitor catches.
Various area restrictions are, in effect, to restrict fishing effort. A vessel observation system is being implemented for better control over area restrictions. Depth and gear restrictions, as well as experiments with selective fishing gear, are also parts of management.
Managing Namibian fish resources has required managers to deal with uncertainties brought about by the highly variable Benguela ecosystem. The only way that risk levels in managing resources can be reduced is to be conservative in harvesting. Of the three main resources – hake, sardine and horse mackerel – only sardine has not performed well since independence.
Some of the smaller, longer lived species e.g. rock lobster, red crab, and Cape fur seal, show either a steady recovery or stabilisation. For most resources, a major environmental aberration in the northern Benguela in 1994/1995 caused biomass estimates to decrease, and a return to normal environmental conditions has underpinned the recoveries during 1997/1998.
On the basis of these trends, it is evident that, despite the adverse conditions of 1994/1995, the well-disciplined and conservative approach to setting TACs, allied to ensuring that landings do not exceed the set limits, is being rewarded by recovery of stocks.
International co-operation
The Benguela Environmental Fisheries Interaction and Training initiative is a regional marine science and training programme involving Angola, Namibia and South Africa. Its goal is to promote optimal and sustainable utilisation of the Benguela ecosystem’s living resources.
The Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem Project, another regional initiative between Angola, Namibia and South Africa, is aimed at sustainable integrated management of the Benguela Current ecosystem.
Namibia, together with approximately 50 other African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, is also part of the Strengthening Fisheries & Biodiversity Management in the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group (ACP) countries project that provides training to researchers and fishery managers. The objectives are to build up the aquatic resource management and scientific capacity of ACP institutions; to promote an enabling environment for research; and to improve the quality, completeness and usefulness of FishBase and other management tools.
The country also plays an important role in regional context to protect and develop the marine resources of southern Africa. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) includes six coastal countries – Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Mauritius and Tanzania.
The co-ordination of the sector for marine fisheries and resources lies in the hands of Namibia, under the auspices of the MFMR.
The ministry established the SADC sector co-ordinating unit for the task of providing the region with leadership and guidance in the formulation, evaluation, management and implementation of specific policies, programmes and projects for the development of the sector.
The Namibian Maritime and Fisheries Institute was also established. It is a rapidly developing maritime training institution with the main aim to be the leading fisheries training institute in the SADC.
Piet Coetzer
