Namibia: Relaxed Fishing Depths Raises Sustainability Questions … Grants Exclusive Access to Select Group of Vessels

Namibia’s recent decision to temporarily relax trawling limits for the wet-landed horse mackerel subsector, allowing fishing in shallower waters from the 200-metres isobath to 150 metres, has sparked significant debate within the industry and raised questions about its alignment with international trade rules. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform recently reduced the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for horse mackerel for the 2026 fishing season by 5% to 197 000 metric tons,…