Export markets open for Namibia’s oyster farmers

NAMIBIA will soon be able to expand its fledgling aquaculture industry and export oysters to the Far East, with Singapore the next destination after China and Hong Kong.

Although the first local oyster cultivation was started 20 years ago by Swakopmund business tycoon Juergen Klein and has expanded to 42 oyster farms in the Atlantic Ocean near Luederitz and Walvis Bay, stringent health regulations in European countries and the US and the lack of a local testing laboratory have hampered the industry. This will now change, according to the outgoing Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Andrew Ndishishi.”We have now hired offices in Walvis Bay and staff was appointed, while the equipment has been set up,” Ndishishi told The Namibian this week.”The testing lab must run for six months before it can receive certification and international accreditation, which will be early next year,” he added.”I am on my way to Singapore to finalise export agreements and a team of exports from Singapore will come to Namibia this month still to test our ocean waters and examine our oyster plants so that we can obtain the green light for export.”At present, oysters are sent to a laboratory in South Africa.Namibian oyster production amounted to six million oysters in 2004, bringing in N$12 million.Joe Gross, former proprietor of Joe’s Beerhouse, who recently turned to oyster production, said there was a potential to grow up to 50 million oysters a year.Currently, the cocktail-size oysters produced in Namibia fetch around N$3 each, but they could easily fetch N$12 each when grown to bigger sizes.”The market potential is huge,” Gross told reporters on Friday after informing President Hifikepunye Pohamba at State House about the opportunities and export constraints of oyster farmers.Namibian oysters are renowned for their top quality.About 70 per cent of Namibia’s total oyster production is exported to South Africa.Some are flown to China and Hong Kong, where there are fewer import restrictions than in Europe, while the rest are consumed locally.”Namibia has a definite market advantage it should exploit because oysters grow three times faster here than in Europe,” according to Gross.”In France, oysters take nearly three years to grow to the preferred market size and in Namibia only 9 to 12 months.”Oysters are not naturally found along the Namibian coast and all spat (from which baby oysters are grown) had to be imported from overseas originally.In the meantime, some local oyster companies have started producing their own spat.Both the pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) and the European oyster (Ostrea edulis) do well in Namibia.”This has to do with the unpolluted waters and the nutrient-rich Benguela Current; coastlines along France and Asia are quite polluted,” according to Gross.He told The Namibian after the briefing at State House that the strict European health regulations require EU experts to regularly test Namibia’s ocean waters for 24 months, and convince themselves of the quality standards of the newly established laboratory, before oysters can be exported there.NamPort has made some 1 250 hectares of sea space available for oyster farmers outside the Walvis Bay port area and three different oyster companies are making use of the space, called Aquapark.Oysters are grown either in crates or mesh bags along lines suspended in the ocean or from rafts.It is quite labour intensive, as the bags and lines must be changed every few weeks when the oysters outgrow their bags or crates.Sorting the oysters for the market is done by hand too.With the laboratory finally in place, the Namibian oyster industry will now be able to conquer international markets.This will now change, according to the outgoing Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Andrew Ndishishi.”We have now hired offices in Walvis Bay and staff was appointed, while the equipment has been set up,” Ndishishi told The Namibian this week.”The testing lab must run for six months before it can receive certification and international accreditation, which will be early next year,” he added.”I am on my way to Singapore to finalise export agreements and a team of exports from Singapore will come to Namibia this month still to test our ocean waters and examine our oyster plants so that we can obtain the green light for export.”At present, oysters are sent to a laboratory in South Africa.Namibian oyster production amounted to six million oysters in 2004, bringing in N$12 million.Joe Gross, former proprietor of Joe’s Beerhouse, who recently turned to oyster production, said there was a potential to grow up to 50 million oysters a year.Currently, the cocktail-size oysters produced in Namibia fetch around N$3 each, but they could easily fetch N$12 each when grown to bigger sizes.”The market potential is huge,” Gross told reporters on Friday after informing President Hifikepunye Pohamba at State House about the opportunities and export constraints of oyster farmers.Namibian oysters are renowned for their top quality.About 70 per cent of Namibia’s total oyster production is exported to South Africa.Some are flown to China and Hong Kong, where there are fewer import restrictions than in Europe, while the rest are consumed locally.”Namibia has a definite market advantage it should exploit because oysters grow three times faster here than in Europe,” according to Gross.”In France, oysters take nearly three years to grow to the preferred market size and in Namibia only 9 to 12 months.”Oysters are not naturally found along the Namibian coast and all spat (from which baby oysters are grown) had to be imported from overseas originally.In the meantime, some local oyster companies have started producing their own spat.Both the pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) and the European oyster (Ostrea edulis) do well in Namibia.”This has to do with the unpolluted waters and the nutrient-rich Benguela Current; coastlines along France and Asia are quite polluted,” according to Gross.He told The Namibian after the briefing at State House that the strict European health regulations require EU experts to regularly test Namibia’s ocean waters for 24 months, and convince themselves of the quality standards of the newly established laboratory, before oysters can be exported there.NamPort has made some 1 250 hectares of sea space available for oyster farmers outside the Walvis Bay port area and three different oyster companies are making use of the space, called Aquapark.Oysters are grown either in crates or mesh bags along lines suspended in the ocean or from rafts.It is quite labour intensive, as the bags and lines must be changed every few weeks when the oysters outgrow their bags or crates.Sorting the oysters for the market is done by hand too.With the laboratory finally in place, the Namibian oyster industry will now be able to conquer international markets.