Mere 11 090mt horse mackerel available on auction

WALVIS BAY - Only 11 090 metric tons of horse mackerel, which forms part of the governmental objective quota, will be available to the highest bidders this year.

The finance and fisheries ministries, who are responsible for the disposal of governmental objective quota, on Friday invited prospective buyers to submit their bids before 29 April.

Spokesperson for the finance ministry Wilson Ashikoto indicated funds raised from the auction would go towards government expenditure.

“Section 3 of the Marine Resources Act as amended makes provision for the state to utilise or harvest marine resources to advance any social economic, cultural or other governmental objectives in the public interest, through an entity or person designated by the minister on the direction of the Cabinet,” the notice also reads.

The 11 090 metric tons of horse mackerel is significantly lesser than the 75 000 metric tons that was available on auction during the previous fishing season, which ended in December 2021.

This is due to the fact that Cabinet in March this year made a decision to reallocate 51 017 metric tons of horse mackerel that was sold in 2021.

About 12 successful bidders, including the Democratic Republic of Congo could not catch their quota due to the fact that the auction was held late, coupled with other challenges.

The government made N$214 million from the 87 500 metric tons of horse mackerel sold during the auction last year, however, the figure is expected to be less than N$50 million this year.

Fisheries minister Derek Klazen in March admitted that the reallocation will negatively impact government’s revenue generated from the auctions.

“This has a serious impact on our revenue, but as a caring government, we took it in cognisance that people have invested money during the auction. The lateness of the auction as well as other factors beyond our control were a major factor in the government’s decision to award the quotas from this year’s governmental objective quota,” he said during an earlier media conference in Swakopmund.

Meanwhile, the online prospectus of the auction indicates that the successful bidders will have until 31 December to catch their quota. “There will be no refund or re-allocation of uncaught quota to the next fishing season. Entities are, therefore, encouraged to purchase quota considering the time left before the end of the fishing season and the capacity to catch the quota,” it stated.