NAMIBIA 



The U.S. Embassy in Windhoek, Namibia, prepared the following report on the fisheries of Namibia, 

 has been altered only slightly to help it conform to other country reports. 8 



The report 



1. General Background 



Prior to Namibian independence in 1990, there 

 was virtually no deep-sea fishing industry operating 

 out of Luderitz or the Walvis Bay enclave. Namibia 

 is currently developing a high-seas fishing fleet 

 capable of supplanting foreign high-seas fishing fleets 

 within the nation's 200-mile Exclusive Economic 

 Zone (EEZ). With emphasis on shore processing, 

 however, Namibia is not developing a high-seas fleet 

 of its own. Except in the case of foreign companies, 

 seeking access to Namibia's coastal fishing grounds, 

 Namibia has not yet become a flag-of-convenience 

 state for foreign fishing fleets. 



2. Licensing 



Namibian government policy discriminates 

 against licensing foreign-based distant-water fishing 

 vessels, since it prefers to provide quotas to local 

 concessionaires. Given the shortage of locally-owned 

 vessels and on-shore processing facilities, however, 

 most deep- and mid-water concession holders 

 currently charter foreign-owned or operated factory 

 ships, typically Russian in the case of mid-water 

 vessels, or Spanish in the case of demersal vessels. 

 During the 1986-1988 period, immediately prior to 

 Namibia's independence, the USSR and Portugal 

 caught 88 percent of the hake off the Namibian coast, 



while the USSR, Romania, Bulgaria, Cuba, Spain, 

 and Poland caught 78 percent of the horse mackerel. 



As of June 1993, there were 80 companies (many 

 with overlapping ownership) holding 95 concessions 

 to fish for horse-mackerel (mid-water trawl), 

 pilchards (pelagic or surface water), hake (demersal 

 or bottom trawl), tuna, and other species. Most of 

 the companies are registered in Walvis Bay or 

 Windhoek, but many have some foreign ownership. 

 There are 149 vessels licensed to operate in the 

 Namibian 200-mile fishing zone (190 including the 

 pelagic fleet, but excluding lobster vessels), up from 

 99 in 1991 (137 including the pelagic fleet). 



3. International Agreements 



The Government of Namibia has yet to complete 

 any fishing agreements. Protracted negotiations with 

 the European Community are under way, 9 with 

 Namibia pressing the EC for an agreement that 

 emphasizes joint ventures. 



4. Joint Ventures 



Due to the government's "Namibianization" 

 policy, joint ventures between foreign fishing firms 

 and local entrepreneurs are common. Moreover, 

 many Namibian concessionaires effectively sell their 



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