By: Erastus Andreas
Namibia’s fisheries sector has been challenged to do more than generate revenue from fish exports.
That was one of the key messages from the National Fisheries Indaba held in Walvis Bay from 3 to 5 September, as government pushes for greater economic value from the country’s marine resources.
Adding that lengthening the fishing sector value chain can create businesses, jobs and opportunities for Namibians to participate meaningfully in the economy.
Fish is the only non-mineral product in the Namibian export basket, with more than 25% of Namibian fish exported to Spain monthly.
During the first quarter of 2026, 92,853 metric tonnes of fish species were caught, a decrease of 5.6 percent when compared to 98,389 metric tonnes recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2025.
President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah called for fishing quotas to be allocated with greater attention to the contribution made by rights holders to Namibia’s development.
She said companies benefiting from marine resources should contribute to local processing, sustainable employment and opportunities for young Namibians.
The President also encouraged the industry to land catches locally, saying this would strengthen domestic processing and allow more value to remain in Namibia.
She further urged financial institutions to make capital more accessible to support entrepreneurship and economic diversification, particularly among young people.
For aspiring entrepreneurs, greater local processing could create opportunities beyond fishing itself, including fish processing, packaging, cold storage, transport, equipment supply and other services linked to the fisheries value chain.
Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform Minister Inge Zaamwani-Kamwi said the contribution of fishing rights holders should not be measured only by the number of fish landed or exported.
Export earnings for ‘Fish and crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates’ for the first quarter of 2026 was valued at N$4.4 billion, an increase of 6.5% compared to N$4.1 billion recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2025 (Figure 3).
The main export destination for ‘Fish and crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates’ for the quarter under review was Spain, accounting for 28.8 percent of total fish exports.
The main product that was exported to Spain was frozen fillets of Hake.
The second and third top export destinations were Zambia (24.5%) and South Africa (8.6%). The main products exported to Zambia were ‘Frozen Jack and Horse mackerel’, and to South Africa were frozen fillets of Hake.
She said Government should also consider employment, incomes, value addition, investment, industrial development, public revenue and skills development when assessing the sector’s contribution.
The Minister’s position points to a broader question for Namibia, whether the country can use its fisheries resources to build more locally owned businesses instead of relying heavily on the export of fish.
According to findings presented at the Indaba, however, better systems are needed to support such decisions.
Martha Uumati, the Lead Technical Consultant at the Indaba, said Namibia has laws, policies, scientific expertise, monitoring systems, infrastructure and extensive fisheries data, but these systems are not sufficiently connected.
She said the research identified five major gaps: implementation, fragmentation, accountability, capacity and national value.
Uumati said the reform challenge is to make the system work as one, with trusted data and greater transparency in decisions over the country’s marine resources.
The message emerging from the Indaba is therefore not only about who receives fishing quotas. It is also about what Namibia gets in return.
For the sector to have a bigger impact on the economy, the benefits of marine resources will need to extend further into local businesses, entrepreneurship, employment and communities.
