Eveline de Klerk
Walvis Bay-The Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Bernhardt Esau, wants at least 47,000 metric tons of fish to be consumed and distributed locally by March 2018. This translates to 7.4 kilogrammes of fish per year for every Namibian.
Esau, who was inaugurating the newly appointed Namibia Fish Consumption Promotion Trust (NFCPT) board members on Thursday at Walvis Bay, said he wants Namibia to become the biggest fish eating nation in Africa, hence fish consumption should be vigorously promoted so that each and every Namibian benefits from the resource.
“We know that Namibians love meat but we want to instil that same love for fish in our people as well, so that we consume more of our resources locally, instead of exporting it. We know that foreign currency must be earned for economic growth but it is also important that our own people benefit from their own resources,” Esau said.
According to Esau, both Norway and Japan consume about 70 percent of their own fish locally – “and that is what I want for Namibia”.
Esau explained that the NFCPT was established with the sole aim to promote the consumption of fish and make it accessible to all Namibians by being visible in all 14 regions.
“Therefore NFCPT cannot be seen as competition but should be assisted by all stakeholders to deliver on its mandate.”
Speaking at the same occasion the CEO of NFCPT, Victor Pea, said they sold 6,511 metric tons of fish during the 2016/2017 financial year, of which 6,143 were horse mackerel, and 368 of other fish species such as hake and snoek.