SWAKOPMUND – Illegal, unregulated fishing offenders will soon be slapped with fines as high as N$10 million for plundering Namibian resources.
According to the Minister of Works and Transport, Veikko Nekundi, the government will tighten Namibia’s outdated fishing laws to clamp down on illegal vessels plundering the country’s marine resources.
Speaking at a town hall meeting in Swakopmund on Saturday, he said that cabinet has approved amendments to strengthen penalties for illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
The ministry is responsible for the Directorate of Maritime Affairs which deals with maritime issues. He said foreign trawlers continue to slip into Namibian waters, switch off their tracking systems and strip the seabed before disappearing into neighbouring waters to offload their catch.
“We have vessels coming to steal the fish undetected. They didn’t care, because the law was outdated. It came from the 1950s, and the penalty was only N$400,” he said.
Nekundi added that due to the low fines, vessels continue to sneak into Namibia
and carry out these illegal activities.
“Vessels were coming to steal our fish. They switched off their systems because they didn’t care. If I pay N$400 and go out there, I can make N$10 000 in a week. So what? That is why they didn’t respect our marine laws,” he said.
Earlier this year, experts in the industry indicated that Namibia loses more than N$1.5 billion every year due to illegal fishing.
According to Nekundi, Cabinet has approved that he amends that law and make it N$10 million if you switch off your monitoring system.
“They need to know that Namibia is a sovereign state, and we mean it. Enough is enough,” he said.
According to him, the bill will be tabled in parliament as soon as government is committed to addressing IUU in the country to protect its natural resources.
Meanwhile, the Confederation of Namibian Fishing Associations (CNFA) chairperson Matti Amukwa earlier also said that illegal operators remove fish stocks without benefiting Namibia or complying with regulations that local companies follow. “We do not condone illegal fishering as it removes our natural resources without any benefits to Namibia and competes with legally caught fish, pushing down prices,” he said. Amukwa also earlier said that Namibia has patrol vessels, aircraft and navy resources, but financial challenges limit their full operation. He said the industry has helped government to ensure these assets are fully utilised.
“Our laws are adequate to deal with illegal fishing and provide relevant penalties on owners and captains. But to enforce them, vessels need to be brought into the port so that the law can take its course,” he said.
The government recently also tightened other fishing regulations, including cutting the bycatch limit from 5% to 2% and raising penalty fees from 15% to 50% to curb unregulated fishing in the country.