Hundreds of fishing industry workers backed by various unions in a mass demonstration yesterday protested against the auctioning of governmental objective quota at Walvis Bay. The ministry earlier this year sold 27 300 metric tons of horse mackerel to the DRC government for N$85.7 million.
The quota is yet to be harvested. However, the fishing season ends on 31 December and quotas are not transferable to the next fishing season.
The parties say that auctioning of quotas, especially to foreigners, does not contribute to the industry or its workers. Workers representative Atanasius Shikokola said that they are not happy with the fisheries ministry as no consultation was done with the industry workers, despite the fact that the industry complained about the auction. “We demand that the ministry stops with immediate effect. If jobs in the fisheries are lost then other businesses will suffer and more jobs will be lost. We must rather encourage on-shore based production and value addition to fish caught in Namibian waters and create more jobs for unemployed Namibians,” Shikokola said.
He added Namibian fish must be caught by Namibian-registered fishing vessels, employing local fishermen to ensure jobs are not lost. “If the quota is auctioned and the local factories do not manage to buy sufficient quota due to international bidders from overseas then jobs are lost,” he said.
He added the ministry cannot force international buyers to catch with Namibian vessels as these may be catching fish for Namibian companies first and only be available to assist international bidders once they have caught their own quotas. “This will not satisfy international bidders and they will want to bring vessels into the country with their own fishers.
In Namibia, the vessels catching the fish belong to the factories and are needed to supply the factories with raw materials and, therefore, not available to catch for outsiders. International bidders have obligations toward Namibian employees,” he said. Unionist Paulus Hango said a social dialogue need to happen before the ministry auctions quotas again.
“A mass industry action is highly likely to take place in the fishing industry if nothing changes. The union will not rest until all these issues are resolved amicably,” Hango said. Fishing industry players also objected to the overall auctioning of quotas by the ministry, citing that they are capable of catching the whole horse mackerel quota, which is about 350 000 metric tons, if planning is done properly. Acting director of the ministry in Erongo Louis Vaendwanaua received the petition.