Namibia imports N$140m in fish as local hake quotas decline

Low fishing quotas lead to N$140m in imports

Namibia imported fish worth almost N$140 million in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA), driven by declining quotas allocated to fishing companies in the sector.

This is a 40% increase in imports over the same period the previous year.

The agency’s latest quarterly report, released yesterday, shows that South Africa was the main source of the imports, making up 50.1% of the total, followed by Spain at 21.7%.

Most of the fish imported from both countries was hake.

The industry says it was forced to import hake to sustain operations.

Merlus Management chairperson Stanley Katzao says the big jump in purchases from other countries is linked to the decline in Namibia’s total allowable catch (TAC) as well as quotas allocated to companies.

“The main reason is the dwindling nature of the allowable catch and the subsequent quotas allocated,” Katzao says.

He says in terms of current quotas, local processing capacity exceeds the volume of hake available.

“The country’s hake fishing processing capacity is substantially larger than the TAC and quotas allocated annually,” he says.

As a result, many of the local factories have to import unprocessed hake from South Africa to maintain optimal production, and thereby safeguard employment and market demand,” he says.

Katzao adds that the cost of local quotas in the sector is also a factor.

“The situation is further exacerbated by the fact that the quota prices for Namibian hake are quite steep, forcing producers to seek alternative sources for the raw material,” he says.

Confederation of Namibian Fishing Associations chairperson Matti Amukwa has confirmed that Namibia imports hake from South Africa and South America to process into fillets, portions, molded loins and other value-added products.

“It helps to keep factories running when catches or quotas are not enough, which has been the trend over the past years.

Final value-added products are reexported again to the usual foreign markets,” Amukwa says.

He says declining local quotas mean companies must source raw material from abroad.

“The main reason is that our TAC has gone down, but our workforce is still there, so companies are not retrenching.

To maintain that workforce, we bring in raw material because we are short of local hake.

And then the fish we bring in, the hake, we add value to that. We create more jobs and we sustain employment,” he says.

Amukwa says imported hake is processed in Namibia before export, with Spain often serving as the distribution hub for Europe.

“Even if the fish is said to be coming from Spain, it is not necessarily caught there.

It could be caught in Argentina, then brought to Walvis Bay, offloaded, processed and then exported.

Most of our fish is exported to Spain as a hub and then distributed to France, Italy, The Netherlands, Germany and other countries,” he says.

The Metal, Mining, Maritime and Construction Union (MMMC) has raised concerns about corruption and weak policy oversight in the fishing sector.

MMMC secretary general Joseph Garoeb says corruption is affecting how the industry operates and may be contributing to the need to import hake.

“There is too much corruption in the fishing industry. This has impacted economic activities within the industry.

This could also be part of a deviation and re-importing from other lines within the same companies,” Garoeb says.

He says the structure of the industry limits local processing, resulting in fish leaving the country without being processed.

“We must understand that most, not all, companies have direct international markets.

Mostly, fish are prepared on board and already sold before it has even reached factories.

The fish mostly goes out without value addition. That prompts some companies to buy it from South Africa and elsewhere to be able to maintain their operations,” he says.

He adds that imports are not limited to fish.
“In my understanding, Namibia not only imports this species, but also the tomatoes used in canning and the cans themselves,” he says.

Garoeb says the situation points to gaps in regulation.

Rally for Democracy and Progress president Mike Kavekotora says Namibia has been a net exporter of fish and fish products and for it to import fish stock worth N$137 million in the last quarter of 2025 points directly to mismanagement in the fishing sector.

“The law of supply and demand dictates that one should first satisfy the local demand before supplying the excess to foreign markets.

We are a net hake exporter and one wonders how we ended up importing fish from countries such as Spain that we supply fish to,” he says.

Kavekotora says while the TAC has gone down, the import of fish cannot be explained by the reduction in TAC even though it poses a serious challenge in the fishing sector.

“A reduced TAC will lead to reduced revenue and potential layoffs and job losses,” he says.

The ministry of fisheries traditionally conducts scientific research to determine fish stock levels that lead to the calculation of acceptable TAC levels, Kavekotora says.

“The ministry must heed to my motion in parliament and reduce, through whatever means, the number of seals in our coastal waters. Seals are depleting our fish stock that could lead to a further reduction in TAC and as a consequence have a detrimental effect on human needs,” he says.

Hake is Namibia’s largest fishing export and a key contributor to the economy.

The sector contributes about 7% to the gross domestic product and supports about 16 000 direct jobs, with additional employment in processing and logistics, particularly at Walvis Bay and Lüderitz.

The increase in imports comes as hake landings declined during the same period.

The NSA reports that hake landings dropped to 18 436 metric tonnes in the fourth quarter of 2025, compared to 26 165 metric tonnes recorded in the same period in 2024.

Overall landings of quota species decreased by 20.8%, from 67 382 metric tonnes to 53 392 metric tonnes.

The report shows that export earnings from fish and related products reached N$2.9 billion during the quarter under review, up from N$2.7 billion recorded a year earlier.

Spain remained the main export destination, accounting for 32.3% of total exports, with frozen hake fillets as the primary product.

In January, Namibia’s hake fishery was recertified under the Marine Stewardship Council sustainability programme, allowing continued access to European and other high-value seafood markets.

The certification confirms that Namibia’s hake stocks are managed under strict environmental and scientific standards aimed at maintaining long-term sustainability.
– Additional reporting by Dolly Menas

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