WALVIS BAY – Fisheries minister Bernhard Esau has described as unacceptable that the horse mackerel fishing industry – the largest fishery by volume - has created only 4000 jobs, while the hake sector has employed 10 000 people.

The minister attributed the status quo to lack of value addition by the horse mackerel sector.
He made the remarks at the ground breaking ceremony of a new multi-million dollar horse mackerel land-based value addition factory, an investment of Tunacor Fisheries on Friday at Walvis Bay.

According to Esau, the fishing sector created 16 500 direct jobs, 10 000 of which are created by the hake sector, while horse mackerel creates only 4000 jobs, despite its total allowable catch (TAC) being 350 000 metric tonnes (MT).

“This is unacceptable, considering that horse mackerel is our largest fishery by volume, and it has about the same value in monetary terms when compared to hake,” he said.

“The high number of jobs in the hake subsector is as a result of the 70/30 policy.  At least 70 percent of hake are added value before being exported and government is determined to implement the same policy in the horse mackerel subsector,” Esau explained.

He added that government set its target in terms of national development plan 5, that by 2022, 70 percent of the total 350 000MT horse mackerel TAC, which is about 250,000MT, should be value added on shore to create more jobs just as the hake sector. 

“In fact, right owners really need to prioritise value addition in order to meet the criteria on value addition and job creation as outlined in the scorecard. The industry should take advantage and heed to the call while the ministry is finalising the scorecard that will soon be gazetted,” Esau said.

Esau says many in the fishing sector doubted government’s ambition of adding value to horse mackerel resulting in the fishery being exported in frozen bulk.

“They said no market exists for value added horse mackerel. I was convinced that time, as I am now, that continuing to export horse mackerel frozen on board freezer vessels meant that we would not unlock employment potential in this sector and this was unacceptable. 

We need jobs for youth, for our ladies in our fishing factories. I am happy to note that several members of the fishing industry have now heeded this value addition call, and we have products such as horse mackerel fillets, canned horse mackerel both for local consumption and exporting,” alluded Esau.