Tuulikki Abraham
LÜDERITZ – Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Bernhard Esau, congratulated the Lüderitz Town Council and the Lüderitz business community for their commitment in yet again organising the successful Annual Lüderitz Crayfish Festival.
Esau said the Annual Lüderitz Crayfish Festival offers an exceptional opportunity for the business community, prospective investors, tourists, political leaders, Government officials, researchers, media, entertainment and other personalities both from Namibia, the Northern Cape in South Africa and across the world, people from !Nami#nus and indeed the mighty //Kharas Region to come together and celebrate the wonderful sceneries, excellent cuisine, especially when accompanied by Lüderitz crayfish, and discuss many opportunities that Lüderitz town has to offer.
“The Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources shares your excitement about the Lüderitz Crayfish Festival. In fact, we have a lot in common, because fisheries are the most important investment in Lüderitz. At the Ministry, we have a deliberate policy to encourage investment in Lüderitz. Our Marine Resources Act allows the Minister to deliberately encourage regional development when allocating rights and quotas, especially to those who choose to invest in fisheries in other towns such as Lüderitz,” said Esau.
He said this is in recognition of the legitimate need to create jobs in this part of Namibia, which has higher operational costs such as labour and fuel, as well as transportation costs, as compared to those who operated in Walvis Bay.
The Minister noted the investments by Fishcor, Marco Fishing, NovaNam, Lüderitz Pioneer and the new exciting new investments in abalone production, just to name a few taking place in Lüderitz town.
He said these investments are creating much-needed jobs in this region and are increasing the focus on Lüderitz, as a major fisheries investment hub in Namibia. The Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources is one of the ministries spearheading the development of Lüderitz Waterfront, a flagship project for this town and indeed the whole of the //Kharas Region, which will help showcase the best aspects of this part of Namibia.
“We will continue to emphasize more and more on the need to invest in Lüderitz, particularly in value addition activities in order to create more on-shore jobs for this region. I call upon investors to focus on Lüderitz, including rock lobster fishery, which is one of the few fisheries in Namibia where, year by year, the stock is plenty, but there is insufficient fishing capacity to land all the allocated total allowable catch,” said Esau.
Esau appealed to the fishing industry, all Namibians, all friends of Lüderitz and the entire //Kharas Region, from Northern Cape and from all over the world, to continue to support the Annual Lüderitz Crayfish Festival, which is now an important business and friendship forum, and a memorable event.
This year, the main sponsor of the Crayfish Festival was the Seaflower Group of Companies. The company’s CEO, Mike Nghipunya, said for three years now the Seaflower Group has spent up to N$3.3 million in contributions to the Crayfish Festival.
Nghipunya indicated that Seaflower would continue to support this event, as they are willing to give a helping hand to the government of Namibia.
Governor of Zambezi Region, Lawrence Sampofu; Premier of the Northern Cape (RSA), Sylvia Lucas; constituency councillors and local councillors from different corners of Namibia, attended the 11th Annual Lüderitz Crayfish Festival.