Cabinet grants approval for extra pilchard quota

A GLIMMER of hope that may counteract some of the bad tidings that have washed over Namibia’s fishing industry for most of this year emerged yesterday with an announcement that Namibia’s fishermen will be allowed to catch an extra 5 000 tonnes of pilchard in the 2005 fishing season.

Earlier this year, Namibia’s total allowable catch (TAC) for pilchard was set at 20 000 tonnes for the current fishing season. Cabinet however approved a higher pilchard TAC of 25 000 tonnes at its meeting on Tuesday last week, the Ministry of Information of Broadcasting announced late yesterday afternoon.The Ministry also announced that a scientific survey undertaken in March and April indicated that Namibia’s total pilchard stock stood at around 183 000 tonnes, of which about 172 000 tonnes are adult fish.In October, a previous survey indicated a pilchard stock of 148 000 tonnes of adult fish.Government said it is envisaged that it will earn around N$3 million through quota fees, by-catch fees and marine resource levies if the total pilchard TAC of 25 000 tonnes is caught.A TAC of 25 000 tonnes would keep the pilchard industry on an even keel, quota-wise, for the third year in a row.The pilchard TAC was eventually fixed at 25 000 tonnes for last year, and was 20 000 tonnes in 2003.In 2002, the pilchard industry reached a low-water mark, though, when the critically low level of the stocks of this fish species led to no pilchard TAC at all being allocated for that year.That move followed on a year in which the TAC had already been slashed to 10 000 tonnes.Having recovered to some extent, the industry however remains but a fraction of the size it has once been.In the early 1990s, pilchard TACs had at one stage been as much as four or five times the current size.A pilchard TAC of 115 000 tonnes was allocated in 1993, and a post-Independence high of 125 000 tonnes was allowed in 1994.The stocks of this species have been fluctuating in recent years.According to the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, the adult stock of the pilchard resource was estimated at 84 000 tonnes in March-April 2003.It ballooned to an estimated adult stock of 362 000 tonnes in October 2003 – only a year after it had been estimated at just 14 000 tonnes of adult fish – but now appears to have declined again to half the size it was said to be a year ago.Cabinet however approved a higher pilchard TAC of 25 000 tonnes at its meeting on Tuesday last week, the Ministry of Information of Broadcasting announced late yesterday afternoon.The Ministry also announced that a scientific survey undertaken in March and April indicated that Namibia’s total pilchard stock stood at around 183 000 tonnes, of which about 172 000 tonnes are adult fish.In October, a previous survey indicated a pilchard stock of 148 000 tonnes of adult fish.Government said it is envisaged that it will earn around N$3 million through quota fees, by-catch fees and marine resource levies if the total pilchard TAC of 25 000 tonnes is caught. A TAC of 25 000 tonnes would keep the pilchard industry on an even keel, quota-wise, for the third year in a row.The pilchard TAC was eventually fixed at 25 000 tonnes for last year, and was 20 000 tonnes in 2003.In 2002, the pilchard industry reached a low-water mark, though, when the critically low level of the stocks of this fish species led to no pilchard TAC at all being allocated for that year.That move followed on a year in which the TAC had already been slashed to 10 000 tonnes.Having recovered to some extent, the industry however remains but a fraction of the size it has once been.In the early 1990s, pilchard TACs had at one stage been as much as four or five times the current size.A pilchard TAC of 115 000 tonnes was allocated in 1993, and a post-Independence high of 125 000 tonnes was allowed in 1994.The stocks of this species have been fluctuating in recent years.According to the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, the adult stock of the pilchard resource was estimated at 84 000 tonnes in March-April 2003.It ballooned to an estimated adult stock of 362 000 tonnes in October 2003 – only a year after it had been estimated at just 14 000 tonnes of adult fish – but now appears to have declined again to half the size it was said to be a year ago.