Foreign fishing vessels plunder Namibia’s horse mackerel
The country’s rich stock is being illegally harvested by foreign-flagged vessels licensed to fish in Angolan waters.
Just past midnight, Namibia’s fisheries monitoring centre in Walvis Bay notices that a vessel near the Namibia-Angola border has stopped transmitting its location. At the same time, a local fishing boat detects a foreign vessel notorious for illegal fishing entering Namibia’s waters, and the country’s navy and fisheries department are alerted. Calls to the vessel’s flag state remain unanswered. Without a patrol vessel nearby, the foreign ship escapes.
This scenario is common on the Namibia-Angola border, says an anonymous fishing industry representative. He says their vessels regularly report suspicious ships, but no action follows, often due to limited resources.
Although Namibia’s waters are rich in valuable fish species, its horse mackerel is the country’s biggest fishery by volume. It is threatened by foreign vessels flying flags of convenience coming from Angola’s waters. In 2023, the Confederation of Namibian Fishing Associations said these ships plundered over 100 000 tonnes of fish from Namibia’s waters annually – estimated to result in N$1.5 billion (about US$81 million) in yearly revenue losses.
The cold Benguela Current hugging Southern Africa’s western shores produces prolific fish stocks in countries like Namibia, Angola and South Africa. Fishing is Namibia’s third-biggest gross domestic product contributor, generating N$10 billion (about US$677 million) in 2021 and providing around 17 000 direct jobs.
But these lucrative fish stocks, coupled with limited maritime law enforcement presence, border-hopping and the evasive nature of fishing vessels, attract exploitation.
Fishing is Namibia’s third-biggest GDP contributor and provides around 17 000 direct jobs
The Gulf of Guinea is the global epicentre of illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, and experts warn that fish further south could be targeted as traditionally targeted stocks diminish. This is arguably the case with Namibia’s horse mackerel. While the species is also fished in Angolan waters, diminishing stocks due to overfishing and illegal fishing by foreign vessels likely contribute to its exploitation in Namibian waters.
Foreign vessels are not authorised to fish in Angolan waters. Instead, industrial fishing is done through joint ventures, whereby foreign-flagged ships are co-owned or leased to Angolan entities. However, some of these are reportedly front companies, making fishing ventures de facto foreign.
Joint ventures are often seen in developing countries whose domestic fishing industries cannot optimally exploit their own stocks but seek to reap its benefits.
Illegal fishing is concentrated in the Angola–Namibia border region, where foreign vessels licensed to fish in Angola operate illegally and under-report their catch. In 2022, during a closed fishing season, a Russian trawler belonging to a Chinese company was seized with 300 tonnes of horse mackerel near Angola’s Namibe Province.
Offending vessels fly flags of convenience, often from Cameroon. The popular practice is used to evade accountability, as complex company structures obscure the ships’ true ownership. Investigations suggest that many Cameroonian-flagged vessels are owned or managed by European countries. Fisheries experts say these often have Russian and Ukrainian crews, some previously operating legal fishing ships in Namibia.
Despite isolated interdictions and denying port entry, Namibia has had limited success in prosecuting foreign vessels
Cameroon is also a popular flag for Russian vessels evading international sanctions. These ships switch off their Automatic Identification System before crossing the Angola-Namibian border, often fishing close to shore and at night. The catch is illegally transhipped in Angolan waters to avoid entering ports. Fisheries experts told the ENACT organised crime project that most of the catch is destined for countries across Southern, Central and West Africa.
Fisheries experts say some vessels have been fined or banned from operating in Angolan waters. But the government hasn’t acted decisively against repeat offenders – despite South African and Namibian requests for investigations.
After Namibia increasingly denied them port access, these vessels docked in Cape Town to resupply, refuel or change crews – without any catch aboard. As a result, South African fisheries inspectors struggle to gather sufficient evidence of illegal fishing to enable a prosecution.
Despite isolated interdictions and denying port entry, Namibia has had limited success in apprehending and prosecuting these vessels. Its fisheries law enforcement effort is largely concentrated on the northern border – far from its closest naval base in the south.
Apprehending foreign fleets engaged in cross-border illegal fishing is a global challenge, with many ships remaining at sea for extended periods. This helps them avoid law enforcement but also endangers crew members, who are often victims of labour abuses.
Along with its sister ship, a Namibian-flagged tuna longline vessel intercepted with shark fins in 2022 was also investigated for suspected human trafficking of crew members. The vessel was linked to Taiwan and carried crew from multiple countries.
This case illustrates the difficulties of attributing responsibility when a vessel is registered in one country, owned by a company from another, and carries crew from across the globe. It also shows the pitfalls of not identifying beneficial ownership or doing a risk assessment before flagging a vessel or issuing fishing licences.
Namibia, Angola and SA are cooperating to stop Angolan-licensed, foreign-flagged vessels from operating with impunity
Large-scale fisheries crime is not limited to at-sea activity or plummeting fish populations. It impacts national economies and those relying on fishing for livelihoods; and breeds corruption.
This was best illustrated by the Fishrot scandal. The lucrative nature of horse mackerel drove Namibian government ministers and Samherji, Iceland’s biggest fishing corporation, to unduly benefit from the industry from the comfort of their boardrooms. High-profile Angolans also potentially benefitted.
There is cause for hope, though. The recently established Southern African Development Community (SADC) Atlantic Project aims to facilitate cross-border cooperation to address illegal fishing and related offences in Namibia, Angola and South Africa. It stems from the 2009 Port State Measures Agreement, which encourages member countries to share information and deny port access to suspicious vessels.
SADC Atlantic has set up communication channels to monitor and share information, and developed a risk register to help countries identify past suspicious activity before vessels ask to enter ports. As a result, Namibia, Angola and South Africa are increasingly working together to produce sufficient evidence to stop these Angolan-licensed, foreign-flagged vessels from operating with impunity.
This cooperation will hopefully enable successful prosecutions and justify denying port access, discouraging vessels from operating in the region’s waters. It should be complemented by increased law enforcement capacity at sea. States must also refuse to flag or give fishing licences to suspicious vessels, and develop policies and practices on disclosing vessel ownership to ensure accountability.
This article was first published by ENACT.
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