Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Local value addition key to fishing industry growth

Home National Local value addition key to fishing industry growth
Local value addition key to fishing industry growth

Maihapa Ndjavera

Production in the Namibian fishing industry has been on a declining trend since 2013. Growth in this sector is expected to remain relatively flat going forward, even potentially transitioning into negative territory in the long run. Now, the most recent forecast shows the industry is expected to grow by 2.8% in 2021 and 3.6% in 2022, compared to the dismal -9.4% in 2020.

According to Local stock brokerage Simonis Storm Securities sectoral insights for the fishing industry for October 2021, most industry players currently operate at full Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) and have reached the total allowable catch (TAC) levels set by the government. 

“This means that growth in the industry will not come from additional players in the industry catching more fish, but rather increased value addition activities or processes being established in Namibia. This suggests existing industry players need to invest in establishing factories and processing plants to add value to their fish products before exporting to foreign markets or selling to the local market, to drive growth and indirect job creation in other sectors linked to the fishing value chain,” reads the report. 

Simonis Storm Securities further stated that additional fishing quotas issued in 2020 reduced the market share of each industry player, thereby lowering profits and increasing the time trawlers stay idle for each player. In essence, each industry player operates a smaller market share while the size of the market remains unchanged. 

The report further noted the industry has become a weaker contributor to the Namibian economy since 2009: “While providing a basic necessity, the importance of the sector is on a downward trend and will continue to become a smaller part of our economy if value addition processes are not set up locally, thereby creating additional jobs along the value chain.”

Currently, the industry employs about 15 500 Namibians, with about 12 000 being employed by the local hake sub-sector alone according to the National Hake Association. This excludes indirect jobs created by or dependent on the fishing industry.

According to the report, the sector is faced with some challenges such as the increasing signs of climate change as well as potential adverse natural events that pose a risk to Namibian fisheries in the future. Another major challenge is the misallocation of fishing quotas/rights in the past. As a result, Simonis Storm Securities said large productive vessels left the industry and quotas were distributed to politically connected individuals leaving some of the smaller rights holders to enter into new ventures.

Furthermore, Covid-19 regulations, closing businesses in the hospitality and restaurant industry led to a decrease in demand for Namibia’s fish exports. The report added the value of fish exports decreased by 35% between April 2020 and November 2020. 

Meanwhile, the value of fish exports bottomed out in November 2020 and have stabilised somewhat at about N$800 billion since April 2021. However, the decrease in demand was recovered within the local hake industry via exports to supermarkets in Europe. 

– mndjavera@nepc.com.na

 

Caption (fishing.jpg): Still in demand…Fish products have accounted for 13% of total exports on average since January 2021, making this the second biggest export product category after commodity export products. Photo: Contributed