Namibia’s third biggest mid-water trawl vessel operator, Trachurus Fishing, announced its new business strategy and corporate identity during a quay-side function in the port of Walvis Bay last week and said it stands as a monument of the results when new right holders tie up with existing large operators, like Namsov Fishing, in the mid-water trawl sector.

The Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Bernhardt Esau, was a guest of honour at the event and highlighted Namibian partnerships, Namibian-owned fleets and value-addition as key ingredients to growing revenues within the fishing sector without having to always increase total allowable catches. Trachurus Fishing was formed a number of years ago by five new right holders who realised the entry-barrier into the mid-water trawl sector is high. Although some had already operated for nearly a decade they had no significant assets as proof of their efforts. They formed Trachurus Fishing in an attempt to pool resources and risks and Namsov Fishing was invited onboard, because at the time that was the only mid-water trawl company with its own Namibian-owned fleet. It had existing horse mackerel markets and had the human, financial and technical capacity to make ends meet in this competitive and challenging fishing sector. Within a year Trachurus Fishing emerged from nearly N$10 million in the red to fully fledged mid-water trawl fish producer with revenues of N$364 million per annum and shareholders equity grew to N$169 million. The company raised the bar with the acquisition of two Namibian-owned horse mackerel trawlers, “Desert Rose” and “Venus I”. The company’s dependence on other Namibian vessel operators and even foreign trawlers came to an end. The fact that Namsov Fishing Enterprises was the control shareholder of the company, however, never allowed Trachurus Fishing to come to its own right. It had always been viewed as standing under the Namsov umbrella. A separate administrative headquarters, independent business systems and the launch of a new corporate identity is hoping to cull this misconception for good. At the launch of the new business strategy and corporate identity last Friday, Fisheries Minister said the fact that the company acquired its own vessels with a combined price tag of N$106 million was exactly what the Namibian Government had been advocating all along. He further stressed the importance of Namibianising the mid-water sector and value adding as the other critical key efforts to grow profits. He also applauded the determination shown by new right holders to work with established Namibian companies. The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Trachurus Fishing, Sebby Kankondi, said the company is proof of how profitable joint ventures between new right holders and established Namibian operators can be. He said the recipe is for all partners to work together as equals and ensure the venture is properly structured. It is also important, he said, that the relationship between the Namibian Government and such joint ventures is healthy and transparent. Trachurus Fishing could be the hope for many new right holders who have to rely on foreign-owned chartered trawler vessels to work their quotas at the moment.