2 NAMIB TIMES
Namibia Marine Phosphate Continued from page 1 judgement will be provided on the Company Website in due course. With this matter concluded, the Company now welcomes the opportunity to resume working constructively with the Namibian Government in order to take the project forward and to resolve any residual stakeholder concerns or mis-information regarding the project development, within the framework of the Namibian legislation and the conditions of the Environmental Clearance Certificate. To date some N$780m has been invested in the project to support exploration as well as technical, economic and environmental studies. Further development of the project will require an estimated capital investment of N$5.2 billion and is projected to yield Government revenues of approximately N$728m per year in tax and royalty payments (N$ 14.95 billion over ML tenure of 20 yrs.). The Company remains committed to the principle of co-existence in the marine environment and to the responsible development of the Sandpiper Phosphate Project in Namibia, in the interests of all stakeholders.” Meanwhile, the lawyer representing the fishing associations that wants to stop the future of marine phosphate mining, on account that it would destroy fishing biomass in the ocean, said it might be a little too early for Namibia Marine Phosphate (Pty) Ltd to lit the celebratory fires. The High Court's decision that the Minister erred will be appealed.
18 MAY 2018
Etosha Fishing pilchard catches, it would spell the end of Namibia's pilchard industry. Restarting the factory would be too costly,” said Greeff. Greeff also expressed Etosha Fishing’s support for the three year moratorium on Namibian pilchard catches. He expressed hope it allow time for the pilchard resource to recover. “With Namibia's pilchard resource under pressure for the past decade now, the company has imported in excess of 50,000 metric tons of frozen pilchards for processing on local soil since 2010, which has been sustained local jobs and continues to serve as a significant boost for the local economy of Walvis Bay. In recent years the company also made substantial investments in thawing equipment in, order to process the imported frozen pilchards more efficiently. Etosha Fishing has been canning pilchards for the revered Lucky Star brand since 1999 and last year secured a contract to can pilchards for the Glenryck brand. In terms of local product innovation, the company broke ground in 2013 with the introduction of Namibia's first canned horse mackerel product range called EFUTA Maasbanker. It was the first local canned product to receive the Namibian Standards Institution (NSI) Standard Mark of Conformity product endorsement. The range of products, which includes horse mackerel in tomato sauce, chilli sauce and brine, is Halaal certified and is a proudly Namibian product displaying the Team Namibia logo. It was successfully introduced to the Namibian retail market in 2014 and showed tremendous uptake, with sales increasing from an ini-tial 80,000 trays (960,000 cans) sold in the first year to an estimated 400,000 trays (4.8 million cans) sold annually
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In order to sustain operations at its cannery, Etosha Fishing has imported in excess of 50,000 metric tonnes of frozen whole-round and cutlet pilchards since 2010. This year's first bulk shipment of 3,300 metric tonnes were offloaded at the Port of Walvis Bay during the second week in May
It's business as usual at Etosha Fishing's cannery thanks to its continued imports of frozen pilchards for local processing. The company has been canning pilchards for the African market leader, Lucky Star Pilchards, since 1999 and have now also secured a contract to can pilchards for the Glenryck brand at present. Etosha Fishing continues to invest heavily in product innovation with the launch of an EFUTA Maasbanker curry flavour imminent and product testing of a minced horse mackerel product also currently under way. Furthermore, Etosha Fishing utilised its own refrigerated seawater trawling vessel for the landing of wet horse mackerel for land-based processing in line with the company's horse mackerel quota. Planning is under way to build an onshore facility to freeze horse mackerel not suitable for canning. “Despite the current pressures of a dwindling pelagic resource, Etosha Fishing is determined to
Despite the demise of Namibia's pilchard resource over the past decade, Etosha Fishing continued to invest in its cannery to ensure it remains a world-class factory. This thawing equipment allows for more efficient processing of imported frozen pilchard for the local and international markets remain steadfast in our commitment to sustainable resource management, job creation and industry development,” says Greeff. He notes that the company will also continue
to import frozen pilchard in order to remain afloat and will continue to develop and diversify its horse mackerel products”, the statement further reads.