The Fisheries and Marine Resources Minister Derek Klazen has called on local entrepreneurs and the fishing industry to add value to all their products.

Klazen visited a polystyrene manufacturing plant in Walvis Bay.

The plant is owned by the Merlus Group of Companies, which invested about N$50 million to acquire the land.

Merlus is a fishing company that processes and exports fish to the European market. 

20% of the fish is exported as fresh hake by flying it from Walvis Bay, where it arrives in Spain the next day. 

A N$70 million fish processing plant has been inaugurated by Fisheries and Marine Resources Minister Derek Klazen at Walvis Bay.

The factory is the third one that the Merlus Group of Companies has set up in the harbor town.

According to the Merlus Cormorant Fishing Director, the journey of building a factory started years ago, when he merely used to buy and resell fish from his garage.

Soon after, Julio Lloves teamed up with other small companies and bought a vessel where fish was processed offshore.

The increase in the number of seals in the population threatens the fish species in the Namibian waters, hence the need to control them.

Motivating his motion in the National Assembly, RDP leader Mike Kavekotora says a balance needs to be found to protect fish species for human consumption and the conservation of seals.

Situated on the southwestern coast of Africa along the Atlantic Ocean, Namibia is one of the countries endowed with aquatic resources, predominantly fish of various types.

The Namibian government is doing all it can to address unemployment, which has become a cause for concern.

The Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Derek Klazen, says people are forced to live below the standard of dignity enjoyed by those who are gainfully employed.

Klazen made these remarks at the opening of the Men on the Side of the Road (MSR) office in Kuisebmund, Walvis Bay.

Klazen says the government is aware of many young people struggling to find jobs and thus finding themselves on the streets.

The Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Derek Klazen, says not all men sitting on the side of the road, attempting to look for work, are criminals.

Klazen said this at the official opening of the Men on the Side of the Road (MSR) office in Kuisebmund, Walvis Bay.

MSR was established in 2007 and has so far registered more than 2,000 members.

Late last year, some prospective employers were robbed after offering job seekers a day's work.

The fishing sector remains one of the top industries, contributing to the country's economic growth, Gross Domestic Product, and export earnings, despite hardship and a bleak financial outlook the past two years.

This was reiterated by the Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Derek Klazen, during the annual address to his staff in Windhoek.

There is still disagreement over the restriction of fishing activities in the 200-meter zone between unions, the wet-landed horse mackerel sector, and the Confederation of Namibian Fishing Associations.

Fisheries and Marine Resources Minister Derek Klazen says his ministry has not yet decided whether to allow the horse mackerel sector to operate in the restricted zone or not.

The opposing views were presented at the fisheries minister's annual address at Walvis Bay.

Fisheries and Marine Resources Minister Derek Klazen is concerned about labour unrest in the fishing industry.

Minister Klazen was addressing union representatives and fishing industry leaders at the launch of the National Fish Consumption Day at Walvis Bay.

Klazen specifically referred to a union which allegedly convinced more than 600 workers to unlawfully resign on 29 August.

The government, after negotiating with fishing companies, managed to get the workers employed in 2020 and 2021 in exchange for fishing quotas.

The Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Derek Klazen, has called on the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, or the Ocean Panel, to do more to market investment opportunities in the ocean economy.

This, Klazen says, will maximise the country's economic benefits. 

The minister made the call at the just-ended Ocean Panel on the margins of the 77th United Nations General Assembly in New York.