More than N$800,000 was raised at the 17th edition of the Luderitz Crayfish Festival at the fundraising dinner. 

Standard Bank Namibia pledged the highest amount of N150,000 towards the hosting of the festival. 

The Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Derek Klazen, officially launched the festival in Luderitz. 

Renowned for attracting visitors and locals alike, the festival offers attendees the chance to taste fresh rock lobster, enjoy entertainment, and listen to live music. 

The festival, scheduled from the 1st to the 5th of May, aims to boost the local economy.

"This event provides an opportunity for business entities and private individuals to pledge their support to the Luderitz Crayfish Festival 2024, be it financially or in kind. As you may respectively recall, the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources has been supporting the annual Luderitz Crayfish Festival since its inception in 2008, and our aim commitment still stands. We are together. We, as the Ministry, embrace fully the Luderitz Crayfish Festival and its aims and objectives."

Businessman Sidney Martins is the patron of the Luderitz Crayfish Festival. 

"The most important aspect of being part of the Luderitz Crayfish Festival is that it brings me back to a lot of memories, and I am very happy to have the Minister of Fisheries here on this table. I can recall, when I was still a child, that there were truckloads of rock lobster heads that were dumped at the refuse dams or whatever you call them, and I was wondering later, when I started to travel, how the rock lobster with the head was so expensive and those in the previous dispensation dumped their heads."