Pilchard and rock lobster are still in a poor state, while horse mackerel has declined.
The Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Derek Klazen revealed this during his annual address at Walvis Bay.
Klazen says a scientific survey to assess the resources was carried out in March 2022.
As per the Fisheries and Marine Resources Ministry's custom, the minister delivers an annual address where the industry's performance is highlighted.
Klazen indicated that key marine resources are dwindling while a few other stocks are still healthy.
Pilchard stocks have still not recovered for a 9th consecutive year of research, while its spawning bio-mass still remains insignificant.
Klazen stated that the ministry will continue imposing the moratorium to allow research and monitoring.
"We have observed that up to 80% of undersized lobsters are still being caught and remedial actions are therefore required in order to avoid this stock from collapsing. It is quite worrisome because the total allowable catch for rock lobster is 180 tonnes. Whereby right holders only get four tonnes, if you talk to people in the industry they will tell you that at some stages the TAC was over 900 tonnes and even more before."
Although the spawning bio-mass for horse mackerel is at a sustainable level, scientific research reveals that the stock has drastically declined.
" The size of the fish has been decreasing over the past five decades and catches of the mid-water fishery are continuously made up of relatively smaller fish in size. I think the industry can attest to this. The sizes of the caches is not as it used to be 20 years ago, it's quite small."
The hake species has increased to 2,4 million tonnes which is a 22% growth.
However, Klazen says the spawning biomass cannot produce a maximum sustainable yield.
Other species like monks and crab are still at a sustainable level with a 2% growth.
The seal population is also in a healthy state but continues to grow because the pup total allowable catch was not landed over the years.