Seaflower seeks joint venture with horse mackerel rights holders

THE troubled Seaflower Pelagic Processing (SPP) horse mackerel fishing company at Walvis Bay is inviting rights holders to a partnership in a joint venture agreement for the catching, processing and marketing of their annual quota allocation.

The company has published an advertisement enticing rights holders with equipment such as pelagic RSW trawlers, as well as 14 000 square metres under-roof production units, consisting of a cannery, a fishmeal plant, and a processing and freezing plant.

“We offer the opportunity to join our dynamic team to ensure conformity to job creation and National Development Goals (NDP5),” the invitation reads.

A source in the fishing industry says those who were allocated rights to wet fish are not willing to sell their quotas, because there is little return compared to that on frozen fish.

They are hoping for the minister to convert this right from wet to frozen.

Wet fish is processed by a large number of employees in land-based factories such as SPP’s.

Frozen (freezer) fish, on the other hand, is processed by small teams of fishermen at sea in large factory vessels like the Heinaste, operated by Tunacor.

“There is a wet versus freezer war currently going on in the industry. Converting wet to freezer brings no value to the industry. This will send many people to the streets and only the elites will benefit,” the source says.

SPP last year submitted a claim for N$250 million for the 95 000 tonnes outstanding from 2018 to 2020, which will accumulate after 31 December.

SPP is a joint venture between Fishcor (40%) and African Selection Fishing Namibia (60%), which is owned by Adriaan Louw.

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