Etosha Fishing commences operations
Etosha Fishing has announced that its cannery will resume operations on 30 October to process the horse mackerel relief quota allocated by the fisheries ministry in June this year.
The intended purpose of the quota allocation, as approved by Cabinet, is to sustain employment at the company in the short term. The company explained that operations are only commencing in October as Etosha Fishing had to first secure catch capacity, after which the horse mackerel quota could be landed for processing.
Etosha Fishing expressed its gratitude to government and the fisheries ministry, in particular minister Derek Klazen, for the intervention to prevent the company from closing.
The company also thanked the Namibia Seamen and Allied Workers Union (NASAWU) and the company’s employees for their patience and resilience amid trying times.
Challenge times
The catching and processing of pilchards has traditionally been at the core of Etosha Fishing’s operations. However, since the pilchard moratorium was implemented in 2017, keeping the company afloat has become a demanding challenge.
This week, the fisheries ministry announced during a Cabinet briefing that the pilchard moratorium will remain in place until such time as the stock has recovered to a biologically sustainable level.
Even though Etosha Fishing has explored various avenues to sustain employment and operations over the past five years, including the importation of frozen pilchards for local value addition, the company has suffered substantial annual losses. As the situation reached unsustainable levels, Etosha Fishing in March this year initiated procedures to terminate the employment of all 430 company employees.
The 5 000mt horse mackerel quota was allocated to Etosha Fishing as a short-term relief measure to allow the company time to implement a turnaround strategy to ensure the long-term sustainability of Namibia's sole operational cannery. As a result, the intended termination process was retracted.
The intended purpose of the quota allocation, as approved by Cabinet, is to sustain employment at the company in the short term. The company explained that operations are only commencing in October as Etosha Fishing had to first secure catch capacity, after which the horse mackerel quota could be landed for processing.
Etosha Fishing expressed its gratitude to government and the fisheries ministry, in particular minister Derek Klazen, for the intervention to prevent the company from closing.
The company also thanked the Namibia Seamen and Allied Workers Union (NASAWU) and the company’s employees for their patience and resilience amid trying times.
Challenge times
The catching and processing of pilchards has traditionally been at the core of Etosha Fishing’s operations. However, since the pilchard moratorium was implemented in 2017, keeping the company afloat has become a demanding challenge.
This week, the fisheries ministry announced during a Cabinet briefing that the pilchard moratorium will remain in place until such time as the stock has recovered to a biologically sustainable level.
Even though Etosha Fishing has explored various avenues to sustain employment and operations over the past five years, including the importation of frozen pilchards for local value addition, the company has suffered substantial annual losses. As the situation reached unsustainable levels, Etosha Fishing in March this year initiated procedures to terminate the employment of all 430 company employees.
The 5 000mt horse mackerel quota was allocated to Etosha Fishing as a short-term relief measure to allow the company time to implement a turnaround strategy to ensure the long-term sustainability of Namibia's sole operational cannery. As a result, the intended termination process was retracted.
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