Walvis Bay Mayor Trevino Forbes says it is surprising that the municipality does not receive fishing quotas to help residents and develop the town.

Making the remarks at the annual Fishing Industry Address, Forbes stressed that Walvis Bay, the town where the resource comes from, does not directly benefit from fishing.

"I trust that this is something that the government and the ministry will look into and consider. It goes beyond me to say that for a town such as Walvis Bay that has a fish resource, hunger is an everyday experience for more than 20% of the population, unemployment amongst the youth is at 40%, and housing is a disaster, as a lack of proper, decent housing has claimed several lives over the past years. As elected leaders, we need to do better, and we need to do more."

The Confederation of Namibian Fishing Associations (CNFA), however, says the ministry should not allocate fishing quotas to non-right holders as this will be in contravention of the Act.

Its Chairperson, Matti Amukwa, stressed that whether it is a commercial or governmental objective quota, fish is supposed to be caught and accounted for by the government or by a right holder.

"Let the government allow existing national budgeting mechanisms to distribute revenue from fisheries levies, fees, and taxes to cater for the needs of schools, hospitals, and communities. This is a sustainable and fair way of beneficiating all Namibians, rather than the allocation of quotas to a few of such facilities and groupings. If indeed the government wants to create new rights and quota holders outside Section 33 of the Act, let this be done through a revision of the Act through Parliament and with full stakeholder participation."

Fisheries and Marine Resources Minister Derek Klazen said: "The municipality falls under the Ministry of Rural and Urban Development, and we have just heard from the association and the confederation how they talk about the management of this resource and the governmental objective quota. Municipalities and regional councils can benefit from the governmental objective quota through the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development. That can happen, but we also need to listen sometimes when the industry talks to us and they come up and tell us we need to do this and do that."