Windhoek: The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform has announced the allocation of a portion of the horse mackerel quota to Etosha Fishing Corporation (Pty) Ltd, clarifying that this decision was not influenced by recent demonstrations by the company's employees.

According to Namibia Press Agency, the ministry stated the allocation process had been finalised before workers protested in Windhoek and Walvis Bay last Thursday over delayed quota allocations. The employees claimed they had been without work for approximately seven months, attributing their prolonged unemployment to the absence of fishing quotas allocated to the company.

Receiving a petition from the demonstrators on behalf of the government, the ministry's Deputy Executive Director, Ueritjiua Kauaria, assured employees that Etosha Fishing would receive a horse mackerel quota by Tuesday. "The process relating to the current allocation was finalised prior to the recent demonstration, with the necessary approvals having been concluded before the Ministry received the petition from employees," the statement said. "It is for this reason that the Ministry was able to indicate its position on the matter at the time the petition was received," it added.

The ministry noted that since the introduction of the pilchard fishing moratorium, government has periodically allocated horse mackerel quotas to Etosha Fishing to help sustain employment and economic activity in the former pilchard sector. Cabinet implemented the pilchard fishing moratorium in December 2017 to halt commercial harvesting and allow fish stocks to recover.

According to the ministry, Cabinet approval is required for such allocations because Etosha Fishing does not hold horse mackerel fishing rights. The ministry further reiterated that Namibia currently has no active commercial pilchard fishery. "The pilchard resource has remained under a fishing moratorium since 2018 to allow the stock to recover, and there are presently no active fishing rights in the pilchard subsector," it said. It added that scientific monitoring and stock assessments indicate a significant improvement in pilchard resources over recent years.

The ministry reaffirmed its commitment to balancing the sustainable management of marine resources with employment preservation, investment retention and the broader socio-economic interests of Namibians.