" Namibia Struggles to Contain Illegal Fishing by Foreign Trawlers" 1 July 2025

Namibian waters are regularly targeted by foreign fishing vessels, particularly Chinese, that engage in illegal activities to plunder valuable horse mackerel and other species, such as hake, kingklip and dentex. The country loses more than $83.7 million annually to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, driving food insecurity and threatening the jobs of more than 18,000 people who work in Namibian fisheries.

China is the world’s worst illegal fishing offender, according to the IUU Fishing Risk Index. Of the top 10 companies engaged in illegal fishing globally, eight are from China.

Matti Amukwa, chairperson of the Confederation of Namibian Fishing Associations, has called for urgent action to stop illegal fishing.

“For too long have we allowed outsiders to rape our Namibian fish stocks,” Amukwa said in a letter to the Ministry of Fisheries seen by The Namibian newspaper. “We need to take action now and stop the damage being done by well-known IUU vessels … We cannot rely on other countries’ governments to stop the pilferage of our resources.” Foreign fishing boats are notorious for abusing local rules to file a foreign-owned and operated fishing vessel onto an African registry and fish in local waters. This is known as “flagging in” or flying a “flag of convenience.” It helps a vessel’s owners dodge financial charges and other regulations.