Fisheries management and the implementation of sustainable fishing practices

Abstract

Abstract provided by author

This paper deals with the examination of the current legal and administrative framework for the management of fisheries resources in Namibia. This examination is aimed at eliciting information on whether the management measures provided for in the legal instrument are ineffective in the management of the resource as some fish species are not responding positively to the management measures. The paper also looks at whether this negative response is as a result of extra-legal factors that are not considered by the legal instrument. Further the examination looks at whether the current legal and administrative framework in place for fisheries management could be changed in an effort to remedy the negative response to the management measures by some species

Namibia as a coastal state has an exclusive economic zone, where it has the right to implement a management system for its fisheries resources. But however, some of the resources are shared with other neighbouring countries and some are found in the high seas. Therefore, the paper also looks at how these straddling fish stocks and fisheries resources are managed by some regional and international instruments and bodies. On this aspect the paper examines how these regional and international instruments and bodies supplement and/ or compliment the Namibian management measures by their management of shared resources and high seas resources. The paper further examines the perceptions of the industry with regard to the fisheries management regime, its implementation, enforcement of the legal instruments and their compliance with the instruments.