Lüderitz

Local fisherman Bertram Eiman was the overall winner of the 26th edition of the annual Snoek Derby competition at the coastal town of Lüderitz recently.

Snoek Derby is an annual event and has been staged over the last 26 years at the southern harbour town usually during the season of snoek fish.

A total of 250 participants with valid fishing licences took to the sea as early as 05h00 to try their luck until 13h00, with the one catching the biggest snoek declared the overall winner.

There were lots of prizes at stake ranging from the smallest fish weighing in at 2.875kg, with prizes from number 20 whose catches weighed in at 5.140kg. Eiman caught the largest snoek fish weighing 6.35kg to claim first prize of N$30 000 to add to his accolades as the skipper of the vessel Ocean Marlin.

Johan Schoombee finished second overall for a consolation prize of N$20 000 with his catch weighing 6.15kg, while female participant Rayheda Losper walked away with the bronze medal and N$10 000 with her catch weighing 5.885kg.

According to one of the chief organisers of the event, Michael Mackenzi, the event is a charity initiative and contributes largely to the less privileged communities in the town with all catches being donated to various soup kitchens and charitable organisations. He thanked the sponsors who made the event possible and cited the valuable contributions of Seaflower, NovaNam, NAMDEB, Ministry of Fisheries, Directorate of Maritime Affairs, Namport and vessels owners.