The hits and misses of Namibia’s attempt to implement the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries (EAF) Management

Abstract

Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries (EAF) management is a concept aimed at the conservation and sustainable use of the entire ecosystem. While EAF is a noble approach, its implementation has been challenging. Although Namibia has committed to the implementation of EAF, only limited assessment has been done of Namibian fisheries management processes and instruments concerning EAF. A qualitative assesment was done to ascertain if the Namibian fisheries management processes and instruments conform to the EAF principles. Namibian fisheries management processes and instruments largely conform to the EAF principles, although there are notable areas needing improvements. The conformities were pronounced in the total allowable catch setting, rebuilding depleted stocks, minimizing bycatch, and fishing impact minimization. The polluter pays, and user pays principles were also applied. Areas that were found lacking in this study included setting the indicators for EAF and ecosystem integrity. The assessment also noted the absence of guidelines for the precautionary approach principle and a transparent policy for quota and right allocation processes. The strategies for managing transboundary fish species are also not formulated. Overall, this assessment showed the complexities and challenges that Namibia and other countries need to overcome to implement EAF successfully.

Ocean and Marine Stewardship in Africa: The Marine Stewardship Council Certification in Namibia and The Gambia

“…Currently, there are only two MSC-certified large-scale fisheries in Africa, with no small-scale fisheries and others undergoing fishery improvements to meet the MSC standards and possibly certification (Figure 1). The two successfully certified fisheries in Africa are the South Africa hake trawl fishery which was the first to be certified in the region in 2004 (Ponte, 2008;Butterworth, 2016), and the most recently certified is the Namibian hake trawl and longline fishery, certified in 2020 (Jones et al, 2020;Iitembu et al, 2021). These two fisheries are similar in that they are both wild-capture fisheries, export-oriented, and large-scale fisheries targeting hake, a transboundary species in South Africa and Namibia, including the hake, species targeted a common shared stock (Henriques et al, 2016).…”

“…In terms of engagement with the MSC, actors within the Namibian hake fishery see certification as a means to increase international market access while also increasing attention to the fishery's ecosystem management (Iitembu et al, 2021). Obtaining MSC certification was listed as one of the priority actions for the Namibian fishing industry in 2017 (Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR), 2018).…”

“…However, there is a contrasting motivation for engaging with the MSC between the two fisheries. For the Namibian hake trawl and longline fishery, the interest in the MSC certification is to gain access to international markets while believing it increases attention on ecosystem approaches to fisheries management (Iitembu et al, 2021). Further, the market incentive to comply with regulations to obtain the MSC certification was listed as one of the priority actions for the Namibian hake fishing industry and the need for improvements (Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR), 2018).…”