By Petronella Sibeene
WINDHOEK
Most serious recreational fishermen might not engage in their favourite sport at the coast, as baitfish is in short supply this season.
Baitfish is small fish caught for use to attract large predatory fish.
One of the suppliers of baitfish from Swakopmund, who did not want to reveal her name, told New Era yesterday that since last month supplies from Cape Town have been low.
“We received just a small amount. We were promised that we will receive more this week but I doubt it,” said the source.
She said around this time of the year the coastal area is full, with most tourists and holidaymakers wanting to fish mostly for fun.
She added that most anglers are interested in buying bait in one-kilogramme packages but the suppliers in South African pack them in five-kilogramme portions, making it unattractive for anglers.
The five-kilogramme packages are mainly meant for vessel operators.
The local industry also finds it difficult to repackage the five-kilogramme packages into smaller portions saying that in most cases, it degrades the quality, especially of pilchards.
Unlike other baitfish sellers, Dirk Van Zyl from West Marine, a baitfish importing and supplying company in Swakopmund, said his company has enough stock but the problem lies with the anglers who want the product to be repackaged.
One kilogramme costs N$22 while five kilogrammes cost N$80.
An Infofish report for April this year showed that Namibia saw a two-thirds drop in UK imports of canned pilchards.
“Namibia’s share of UK sardine/pilchard imports had jumped from almost 20 percent in 2004 to just under a third in 2005 but dropped to 10 percent last year as a result of volume decline,” the recent report said.
The pilchard population in Namibia has declined drastically over the years.
The pilchard catch has dropped from 1,3 million tonnes in 1968, 125ǟ