New vessel to zone in on shallow waters off Nam

THE lack of available information on the quality of Namibia’s shallow-water coastal zone could be remedied by the newest addition to the fleet of the Fisheries Ministry.

The Noctiluca, a King Cat ski boat donated to the Ministry by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), will be used for environmental monitoring of the inshore grounds, which were previously neglected because they are inaccessible to large research vessels such as the Welwitschia. At the official launch of the vessel in Swakopmund recently, Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources Abraham Iyambo said: “[T]he shallow-water zone is home to the most intense interaction between coastal biotic communities and the marine environment.Consequently impacts from both land and sea are prominent and noticeable.”Iyambo said the inshore waters of the Benguela Current are highly productive and offer opportunities for aquaculture, inshore resource harvesting, industrial and urban development as well as tourism and recreation.These activities needed to be planned on the basis of scientific information, he said.The Noctiluca will specifically be used to study and monitor toxic organisms and occurrences such as red tides, harmful algal blooms and sulphur eruptions along the Namibian coast before they become detrimental to fishing.Iyambo said the Noctiluca would also be instrumental in monitoring the many migratory bird species along the coast which could possibly be carriers of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu.The other member countries of the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem Programme (BCLME), Angola and South Africa, will also receive similar vessels from the UNDP to ensure that the entire length of the Benguela Current, stretching from northern Angola to Port Elizabeth on the southeast coast of South Africa, is closely monitored.The Noctiluca, meaning “night light”, is five and a half metres long and was built at a cost of N$290 000 by the company Z-Craft in South Africa’s Kwazulu-Natal province.Iyambo congratulated the BCLME Programme on the completion of more than half of its 75 commissioned projects.”These projects have yielded useful outcomes which could aid the sustainable use and management of biotic and abiotic resources along the coast,” he said.At the official launch of the vessel in Swakopmund recently, Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources Abraham Iyambo said: “[T]he shallow-water zone is home to the most intense interaction between coastal biotic communities and the marine environment.Consequently impacts from both land and sea are prominent and noticeable.”Iyambo said the inshore waters of the Benguela Current are highly productive and offer opportunities for aquaculture, inshore resource harvesting, industrial and urban development as well as tourism and recreation.These activities needed to be planned on the basis of scientific information, he said.The Noctiluca will specifically be used to study and monitor toxic organisms and occurrences such as red tides, harmful algal blooms and sulphur eruptions along the Namibian coast before they become detrimental to fishing.Iyambo said the Noctiluca would also be instrumental in monitoring the many migratory bird species along the coast which could possibly be carriers of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu.The other member countries of the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem Programme (BCLME), Angola and South Africa, will also receive similar vessels from the UNDP to ensure that the entire length of the Benguela Current, stretching from northern Angola to Port Elizabeth on the southeast coast of South Africa, is closely monitored.The Noctiluca, meaning “night light”, is five and a half metres long and was built at a cost of N$290 000 by the company Z-Craft in South Africa’s Kwazulu-Natal province.Iyambo congratulated the BCLME Programme on the completion of more than half of its 75 commissioned projects.”These projects have yielded useful outcomes which could aid the sustainable use and management of biotic and abiotic resources along the coast,” he said.