The Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources will not micro manage small fishing right holders by merging them with big companies that have fishing vessels, Permanent Secretary, Moses Maurihungirire, said in an interview.
Prospective rights holders have until the end of August to apply for 96 fishing rights for various species. One of the main requirements is that applicants must have fishing vessels, whose affordability is beyond most Namibians.
In the past, the ministry merged smaller fishing rights holders with established companies in what was dubbed ‘shotgun marriages.’
This week, Maurihungirire said the ministry’s only involvement is to allocate rights to those that are successful.
“After that you do your business. The rights will be granted according to what you put in your application for fishing rights,” he said.
Although investment in vessels cost millions, Maurihungirire insisted that those who will be granted rights do not necessarily have to partner foreign companies in order to operate.
The ministry recently extended the deadline for applying for the rights from July 31st to August 31st.
It had initially said applicants for fishing rights must form Pty Ltd companies and not apply through Closed Corporations, but due to a highly negative outcry from the public and the extensive legal requirements for establishing a Pty Ltd in Namibia, has since rescinded this decision, saying people can still apply using CCs, which they must convert to a Pty once they are allocated fishing rights.
Figures from the Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA) show an increase in the demand for business registration services mainly due to the fishing rights on offer.
BIPA statistics show a 47 percent surge in new transactions related to the fishing rights. For the first two weeks of May, BIPA processed 1866 transactions, compared to 3515 transactions in the first two weeks of June.
Maurihungirire said the ministry will only have the full picture of the number of companies that have applied for fishing rights towards the end of August since people are applying in all the regions of the country.
He said the huge interest in the fishing rights can be attributed to the meetings the ministry held in the regions educating people about fishing rights.
“The public were very well informed,” he said. “By default, the interest could be higher due to this sensitisation.”
Maurihungirire also gave a word of caution to those who think the mere application for quotas means they will be granted fishing rights.
“It’s not everyone who has applied, that will get quotas, but when you get the rights, create employment so that more people benefit from the resources.”
Statistics from the fisheries ministry show that there were 32 fishing rights which had attained 20 years. This number will increase by a further 75 by the 31st December.
During the period of 2017/18, the Total Allowable Catch for various fisheries was 507,276 MT, compared to 521,714MT in 2016/17, representing a marginal decrease of about three percent.
With a value of N$10 billion, the fishing industry is the second largest forex earner for Namibia, after mining.