Lüderitz
The rock lobster (crayfish) season has been very good for fishermen so far and the same positive performance was observed last season, says Mike Nghipunya the chairman of the Namibia Rock Lobster Association.
So far mid-season the industry managed to catch about 70% of the quota. The total allowable catch was cut by 50 tons, as per recommendation of the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, which is something the industry really does not understand seeing that the stock has responded positively as reflected in the good catches, according to Nghipunya.
The industry hopes this will change next season.
The sector exports frozen rock lobster mainly to Japan. To the new market in China about 15 tons of live lobster were exported.
The global market is still very open for business and the fishery needs a bigger market for frozen lobster.
Nghipunya indicated that the sector faces challenges of rock lobster sizes.
The current market demands big sizes, which is a new thing to the industry and clients in Japan, because previously the small size lobster was preferred by the Japanese.
“The cause of the change in demand is attributed to the changing cultural practices such as wedding sizes, Osechi gift hampers and the likes. This is a challenge beyond our control and we need to develop markets that will consume our small size lobster in going forward,” said Nghipunya.
Finding a balance between live and frozen rock lobster is also a challenge, since the bigger size lobster is mostly exported live because of its ability to withstand stress and arrive alive at the final destination.
Exporting live lobster brings good returns for fishermen but it means only smaller sizes are available for frozen exports.
The catching season lasts six months, from November to April and the industry does not really get enough out of those six months, says Nghipunya.
The government has approved a deep sea lobster experiment during the off season from May until October for a period of five years. This is to determine the availability of lobster in waters deeper than 50m. Should everything go well the industry is hopeful that the lobster season will become a full-year one as compared to the current six months.