The Namibian Cabinet has approved a Total Allowable Catch (TAC) of 9,600 metric tonnes for monkfish for the upcoming 2025/2026 fishing season, which will run from 1 May 2025 to 30 April 2026.
This was confirmed by the Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Emma Theofelus, during a briefing on recent Cabinet decisions.
“Cabinet approved the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for Monk to be set at nine-thousand, six-hundred (9,600) Metric Tonnes (MT) for the 2025/2026 Fishing Season,” Theofelus stated.
The announcement comes amid a downturn in Namibia’s fish export earnings. According to the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA), export revenue from fish products declined by 11.7% to N$2.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to N$3 billion during the same period in 2023.
The NSA further reported a significant drop in total quota species landings, which fell by 27.4% year-on-year.
Landings for the fourth quarter of 2024 totalled 62,281 metric tonnes, down from 85,820 metric tonnes recorded in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
Spain retained its position as Namibia’s leading export destination for fish and fish-related products, accounting for 36.5% of total fish exports.
Most of these exports were frozen hake fillets. Zambia and South Africa followed with market shares of 21.2% and 8.9%, respectively, primarily importing horse mackerel and hake.
