For generations, we Namibians have been told a beautiful story about our ocean.
We are taught to take pride in having some of the richest fishing grounds in the world. Just last year, our marine sector brought in a staggering N$13.8 billion in export earnings.
But if you walk through Walvis Bay or Lüderitz, a painful paradox stares back at you.
While billions of dollars worth of our ‘silver wealth’ has sailed out of our ports, the state collected a mere N$278 million in direct revenue.
We have to stop and ask an uncomfortable question: why are regular Namibians still fighting for crumbs while our ocean wealth builds fortunes elsewhere?
Last weekend, from 3 to 5 September, the inaugural National Fisheries Indaba 2026, ‘Turning the Tide’, took place at Walvis Bay.
It felt different from the usual government talk-shops – those where officials read dry speeches and nothing changes.
It felt like a genuine battle for the soul of our natural resources.
The goal wasn’t just to tweak a few rules, but to fundamentally deconstruct a market structure that has historically lined the pockets of a select few.
In short, it was to rewire the system so that it finally works for every single Namibian.
HARD TRUTHS
The truth is, our fishing sector is quietly suffocating.
Our fishermen and factory workers face harsh realities: fluctuating quotas driven by declining fish biomass, illegal trawlers plundering our waters, and skyrocketing operational costs.
Worse still, we have too many commercial vessels aggressively chasing fewer and fewer fish.
This overcapitalisation creates a dangerous temptation to plunder protected ecological zones, risking the exact same catastrophic fishery collapses that wiped out our pilchards and orange roughy in the past.
When those ecosystems collapse, it isn’t the corporate executives who suffer most – it is the coastal families who lose their livelihoods overnight.
Compounding the situation is a frustrating lack of transparency.
We cannot talk about true economic freedom until we pull back the curtain, end the secrecy, and openly publish exactly who benefits from every single fishing right and quota issued in this country [Institute for Public Policy Research].
A LINE IN THE SAND
The indaba was given moral weight when president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah stepped up to the podium.
The president didn’t hold back. She gave a stern, passionate warning against letting self-interest corrupt scientific advice, openly questioning why the government and industry scientists constantly argue over data when they are looking at the exact same ocean.
President Nandi-Ndaitwah declared: “We really need to take science seriously… [We must not weaken] scientific recommendations in an attempt to balance competing economic and social interests.“
Her words struck at the heart of our national dilemma.
The president drew a line in the sand – political convenience can no longer override ecological realities.
We cannot build lasting economic freedom or provide social relief to our people by destroying the biological foundation of our sea.
If the fish dwindle and die out, jobs die out with them.
True patriotism means protecting the ecosystem that feeds us, rather than sacrificing it for short-term commercial greed.
Converting these deep-seated challenges into real opportunities requires bold, unapologetic policy reform.
We should no longer simply care about topping global export charts if our youth remain unemployed on the streets.
POLICY SHIFT
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform has stepped up with a powerful vision to increase local onshore fish processing from 23% to 45% over the next five years.
By requiring companies to process fish on our shores instead of exporting it raw, this policy shift is projected to create 15 000 new permanent jobs and keep the real wealth right here in Namibia where it belongs.
To make this market genuinely equitable, our policies must ensure that the jobs at Walvis Bay and Lüderitz are dignified and stable.
We must demand uncompromising accountability by hitting rule-breakers with massive bycatch penalties and naming and shaming those who exploit our waters.
Most importantly, with hundreds of active fishing rights expiring in 2026 and 2027, the government holds a powerful leverage point.
Rights should no longer be renewed based on political connections or historical privilege.
Renewals must be tied directly to how much a company genuinely invests in Namibian workers, empowers local women, and lifts up coastal communities.
SETTING SAIL
Beyond the numbers, the disputes, and the policy dense frameworks, what we truly took away from Walvis Bay last weekend was something far more powerful: a profound sense of hope.
For the first time in a long time, the walls of secrecy are cracking, and a collective, unified voice is rising along the shores of our nation.
We are finally standing on the dawn of an era where our oceans will no longer just enrich corporate balance sheets across the globe, but will directly put food on the tables of our people and finance the dreams of our children.
The roadmap drawn up at the 2026 indaba is a promise that our future can be as vast and wealthy as the Atlantic Ocean itself.
As we steer a course toward true economic freedom and sustainable livelihoods, we must do so with a fierce, unwavering conviction that the tide is finally turning, and that our silver wealth is finally coming home to every single Namibian.
– Kevin Rukoro is a youth activist, public servant, media student and founder of the Anointed Levites Foundation. The views expressed here are his own and not necessarily those of his employer .
