THE FEEDBACK: Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources

Home Special Focus THE FEEDBACK: Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources

Query: KAROVO Fish Farm in the Mukwe Constituency is dormant, but the Ministry of Fisheries returned N$16 million meant for aquaculture projects to Treasury.

Response: KAROVO Fish Farm was handed over to a cooperative to manage it. The Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR) is, therefore, not liable for the non-functioning of the aforementioned fish farm.

Query: Ministry of Fisheries please, we need clarity on the issue of consuming mussels from Walvis Bay and Swakopmund.

Response: The ministry wishes to inform the public that it is safe to again consume mussels from the Walvis Bay and Swakopmund areas. Mussel samples from the Walvis Bay Mariculture Production Area 1 were collected and submitted for testing for Diarrhetic Shellfish Poisoning (DSP) during the most recent official sampling and testing facilitate by the Namibian Standards Institution (NSI), as guided by the National Shellfish Sanitation Programme. Both re-tests produced negative results and mussels may therefore be harvested for human consumption.

De Wet Siluka, public relations officer in the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources. E-mail: dewet.siluka@mfmr.gov.na