The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources have raised a total of N$52.3 million from the sale of 28,500 metric tonnes (MT) of Horse Mackerel, inclusive of N$11,000 raised from application fees.
This comes after the government held an open bidding for 30,540 metric tonnes (MT) of Horse Mackerel on March 31, 2023.
“The Ministry of Finance and Fisheries and Marine Resources consider the Horse Mackerel auction a success, as shown in improved prices from the reserve price of N$3,000 to an average of N$3,017.64 for Freezer Horse Mackerel and N$750 to N$754.02 for Wet Horse Mackerel. Such an outcome confirms auctioning as a good mechanism to facilitate price discovery in the sector and allocate natural resources to the market,” the ministries announced on Thursday.
The decision to hold the auction was in line with Section 3(3) of the Marine Resources Act, Act No. 17 of 2000 as amended, which allows the government to utilize or harvest marine resources to promote socioeconomic, cultural, or other governmental objectives in the public interest through an entity or person designated by the Minister, on direction from Cabinet.
This move comes as the Namibian government has set the total allowable catch (TAC) for horse mackerel at 290,000 metric tonnes (MT) for the 2023 season, which began on January 1, 2023, and will run until December 2023.
This is a reduction from the 330,000 MT approved for the 2022 fishing season.
In 2022, Namibia’s fish exports decreased marginally by 1.3% to N$7.8 billion from N$7.9 billion recorded in 2021, according to the latest figures.
The fishing sector, according to Simonis Storm, accounted for an average of 12.5% of total exports in 2022 and year-to-date accounts for 5.7% of real GDP.
In 2020, the Namibian government resolved to sell fish quotas through a competitive auction system to the highest bidder, as part of efforts to ensure that the country receives the correct value for its fishery resources and fully benefits from its natural resources.
The government’s decision to open the bidding process for Horse Mackerel is expected to generate revenue for the country and provide a platform for companies to secure access to the much-needed resource.
