Fishcor adds value to horse mackerel

Fishcor adds value to horse mackerelProcessing plant for local beneficiation A groundbreaking ceremony was held in Walvis Bay over the weekend to herald the start of construction at Fishcor's new canning factory. Fisheries and marine resources minister Bernard Esau says the National Fishing Corporation of Namibia (Fishcor) should be regarded as a partner of the private sector in fishing and not a competitor.

“We are just complementing and are partners of progress. We have more horse mackerel to process than our total installed capacity, hence we need investors starting with government.

“Fishcor exists to fulfil specific governmental objectives of developing the fisheries sector and was established to undertake fishing, fish processing, capacity building of Namibians venturing into fishing or fish processing, assisting government with research and financing of government projects in the fishing sector.

“It is mainly government owned and profits generated via it flow directly to the people of Namibia,” the minister told fishing industry representatives attending the groundbreaking ceremony of the new Fishcor horse-mackerel processing plant and canning factory in Walvis Bay. Esau said that the ministry of fisheries and marine resources commenced with a process of scrutinising corporate governance issues in all rights holders to ensure that companies which are entrusted with fishing rights on behalf of Namibians adhere to sound corporate governance principles and that their benefits are shared with as many Namibians as possible.

He gave the assurance that Fishcor, as a special-purpose government vehicle entrusted with a fishing right, will be scrutinised even more closely in order to ensure it adheres to its objectives.

The minister further pointed out that it was necessary to establish Fishcor due to the ministry having had to manage the transition into the Namibianisation of fisheries after independence and that government needed a special-purpose vehicle to work in partnership alongside companies that were willing to achieve Namibia's objectives.

“I am happy to note increased participation of Namibians, particularly from previously disadvantaged groups, in the marine fisheries sector. I am also pleased by the fact that several Namibians acquired vessels, are fishing and that the country have sufficient capacity in Namibia to sustainably harvest living marine resources.”

He reiterated that his ministry was committed to NDP5 launched in June this year and said the ministry envisioned adding value to 70% of horse mackerel landings, starting with at least 40% in the next four years.

The fishing sector is however facing a challenge of mobilising enough champions in the private sector to invest in processing infrastructure to meet this target.

In conclusion Esau called on fishing companies to open up equity participation in factories and vessels in order to allow workers to participate and benefit from all aspects of the industry.

OTIS FINCK