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Lahja Nashuuta

Windhoek- The Namibianization policy in the fishing sector is bearing fruit with about 80% of the fishing vessels fishing in Namibian waters. Namibia, Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources The Southern Times

The fisheries sector plays an important role in terms of production, employment, foreign exchange earnings and government revenues. The sector directly supports around 16,800 jobs and provides an average of R10 billion in annual revenue per year. According to the NDP5, Namibia is expected to be a key fishing and processing center in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean by increasing the volume of fish handled, canned or preserved. The application for rights to harvest marine resources for commercial purposes, in accordance with the 2000 Marine Resources Act of the country, is in progress and the deadline is 31 August 2018. [19659006] One of the Eligibility criteria for the right to harvest marine resources is that the applicant should own a fishing boat, own or intend to own a fishing boat in partnership with a fishing vessel. others or plans to charter a fishing vessel for its operations.

The question of ownership of fishing vessels has been considered one of the main obstacles to obtaining fishing quotas by the majority citizens in the past. Most fishing rights holders own fishing vessels in partnership with other people.

In most cases, the flag of a ship belongs to its owner and few Namibians own fishing boats. The spokesman for the Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources, De Wet Siluka, said: The Southern Times that there are currently 203 fishing boats in the main port of Walvis Bay. authorized to operate in the Namibian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which is 80% owned by Namibians.

Namibia does not yet have a local shipyard. Namibia uses, inter alia, fishing vessels from Panama and Spain, but a number of actions have been purchased by holders of fishing rights on existing fishing vessels, resulting in the reporting of a number of Namibian vessels.

"This is considered an achievement in the Namibian fishing industry, as it translates into Namibianization policy," said Siluka

adding that the number of Namibian vessels flying the flag is expected to increase. He said that the country had already entered into an intelligent partnership with Spain to domesticate shipbuilding activities in the country, which would allow Namibia to fully own the fishing vessels in its waters [19659011]. port of Vigo in Spain. The vessel is designed by the Technical Department of Tunacor Group, which is the mastermind of the project and is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Siluka also revealed that the Namibian government has so far injected about 160 million rand for the construction of the fishing vessel

The trawler (vessel) will measure 53 meters in length and 11.5 meters in width and will have a gross tonnage of 1,200 tonnes and a loading capacity of 500 tonnes of fish. It can be used to fish for hake, monk and horse mackerel, and will be specially built for Namibian marine conditions as it will be partially constructed in Walvis Bay.

All highly specialized aspects will be built in Spain, while many others He confirmed that the construction of the multi-purpose steel trawler, expected to last 40 years, should create local jobs in the sector of shipbuilding and develop skills that could be useful in Walvis Bay. lacks locally and creates a vital and strategic partnership for shipbuilding between the port of Walvis Bay and the port of Vigo, Spain.

It is confirmed that approximately 200 direct jobs will be created. Sixty of these positions will be on board and 140 will be on land. There will also be hundreds of jobs created indirectly in the supply, maintenance and logistics chains.

"The Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources is still excited when the fishing industry acquires a new fishing boat for Namibian waters, new employment opportunities for Namibians (especially young people.]

"More qualified people in the maritime sector will be able to manufacture and maintain our equipment, without resorting to imported labor," said Siluka. [ad_2]
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