WALVIS BAY - The illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing underworld is changing its modus operandi to evade law-enforcement agencies, allowing them to continue plundering natural resources within this sector.
A Nature Study conducted by the Global Fishing Watch states that 75% of the world’s industrial fishing vessels cause havoc in the shadows by disabling their automatic identification systems (AIS). This trend, dubbed “going dark,” allows these maritime predators to slink undetected into protected fishing grounds to plunder. These rogue fishers defy decades of international efforts aimed at combating illegal fishing and fostering sustainable resources' management undertaken by countries, including Namibia.
IUU fishing activities pose a significant threat to Africa’s marine resources, with far-reaching consequences for the continent and its communities reliant on these resources. In 2023, the African Union estimated that Africa loses US$11.5 billion annually to illegal fishing, making it the region most-affected globally. The Confederation of Namibian Fishing Associations (CNFA) indicated last year that Namibia annually loses N$1.5
billion due to IUU activities.
According to the Financial Transparency Coalition (FTC), IUU fishing is not merely an illicit practice. “It drains economic resources, and jeopardises the livelihoods of millions who depend on these resources,” the report stated.
Namibia’s fight
In December, law-enforcement agencies impounded the Angolan-flagged MFV Lucimar vessel for alleged illegal fishing. The accused captain, Rodrigues Jose, and his 19 crew members were allegedly found fishing illegally approximately 24
kilometres inside Namibian territorial waters near the Angolan-Namibian border.
Their AIS was not active during their arrest. Officials found that the crew did not have a licence or permit to harvest marine resources in Namibian territorial waters.
Testifying earlier this year for bail, Jose admitted that the system was not on, stating that the AIS had not been working for at least three weeks, and that they were waiting for parts they ordered. Asked why their fishing gear was wet and had pieces of fish on it, Jose told the court that they were mending their nets. He, however, denied the illegal fishing allegations. Their case is ongoing.
In 2020, Arngrímur Brynjólfsson, a factory trawler owned by Samherji, was fined N$950 000 in the Walvis Bay Magistrate’s Court for fishing in a restricted zone. In September last year, a freezer horse mackerel trawler was also detected off the coast of Angola near the Namibian border.
“It is suspected the vessel is harvesting fish illegally because it has no name, and the call sign is allegedly removed so that Namibian aircraft and vessels cannot link them,” an official of the fisheries ministry told New Era, stating that these are just some of the cases involving IUU activities detected in Namibia.
13 cases in 2023/2024
For the 2023/2024 financial year, a total of 13 cases have been reported, of which some involved foreign vessels. This was confirmed by the fisheries ministry to this publication.
Asked whether current mechanisms are effective in curbing IUU activities, the ministry’s spokesperson Uaripi Katjuka said the ministry is content with the implementation of its responsibility to ensure compliance with fisheries laws through its programmes on surveillance, inspections, detentions and investigations.
“The tasks of prosecution and conviction are assigned to other State offices. Therefore, it is inappropriate without a comprehensive assessment to determine other agencies’ performance,” she observed.
Katjuka said the ministry continuously reviews its IUU deterring programmes to adapt to new developments in IUU fishing transgressions, which are occasionally informed by information from the public or whistleblowers, such as switching off AIS devices by some fishing vessels.
“However, divulging the ministry’s strategy to the public is counter-productive in addressing IUU fishing. We express our appreciation for the public’s cooperation in addressing IUU fishing by providing information on transgressions. We further encourage the public to provide detailed information on such reporting to enable effective investigations and detentions,” she appealed.
CNFA chairperson Matti Amukwa said their position on IUU fishing is very clear. The industry does not condone illegal fisheries, as they remove natural resources without any benefit to Namibia and compete with legally-caught fish, pushing down prices.
The CNFA reported that six or seven foreign trawlers, allegedly operating under licence in Angolan waters, harvest over 100 000 metric tonnes of fish in Namibia’s northern waters each year. Amukwa believes that “Namibia as a country has the tools and means, including patrol vessels, aircraft and the navy, but we understand that there are some financial challenges which are preventing these assets from being used to their full potential”.
“The industry has offered assistance to the ministry to realise and fully utilise this equipment. Hence, manpower should not be a problem, but if the vessels cannot leave the harbour because of a breakdown and are waiting on spares to come from overseas, then all the manpower in the world does not help. The operation should be fully-funded, and the manpower should be fully-activated,” he stressed.
International law
International maritime law requires vessels to have their AIS responders on, but exceptions are allowed if you are going through a war zone or areas infested with pirates. To punish the IUU fishers for switching off the responders would require catching them and bringing them back to port for sentencing, which requires active patrol vessels which have the capacity to force the culprit to adhere to instructions. IUU vessels do not carry the same vessel monitoring systems that Namibian-licensed vessels do. Local laws are adequate to deal with illegal fishing, and provide relevant penalties for owners and captains.
Fisheries minister Derek Klazen likewise expressed deep concern over the magnitude of IUU fishing on the country’s coastline.
The minister said the plundering of Namibia’s resources continues unabated, with neighbouring countries also implicated in these illicit activities, both inland and at sea.
Adding to that, illegal fishing overall is a costly exercise as it not only robs the country of revenue, but also impacts the sustainable management systems in place for the harvesting and safeguarding of natural resources.
During the tabling of the 2024/2025 budget, it was stated that marine and inland monitoring, control and surveillance are entrusted with the protection of the resources through ensuring compliance with the provisions of the statutory instruments, policies and directives that govern and regulate fishing practices using patrol vessels, airplanes and vehicles. Klazen said the ministry conducted nearly 2 000 patrols and inspections within the national jurisdiction, amidst challenges and constraints encountered. These patrols were done in collaboration with the Namibian Navy, the Namibian Police and private entities to combat IUU activities.
“These efforts will be continued into the 2024/2025 financial year to sustain a credible MCS programme implementation strategy to meet set objectives. As such, the financial resources required for this programme will fund the maintenance and repair of patrol vessels, aeroplanes and vehicles to ensure availability for deployment and inspections”.
The minister was seeking approval from the National Assembly when he tabled the new budget, in which he indicated that N$100 million would be allocated for monitoring and surveillance activities in Namibian waters.