'We are competing with seals'
Adolf Burger, the general manager of Princess Brand Processing (PBP), has raised concerns about the increasing number of seal colonies in areas rich with horse mackerel, saying the company now has to 'compete' with the seals.
Speaking at a consultation meeting with the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources, he highlighted the "devastating effects" of the growing seal population on the sustainable harvest of fish stock in Walvis Bay.
According to him, the seals understand the fishing operations of vessels.
"They come for the vessels when they see them pumping. They know how we operate and there's nothing that we can do to scare off these seals."
He added that seals cause significant damage to the vessels' pumps.
"The breakages are significant and cause you to stop your pumping, which raises quality issues with the fish. Sometimes body parts of seals get into the tanks on the vessels and then come to shore. On the few occasions this happened, it wasn't a good sight in the factory as it looked like human body parts that were pumped out with fish into the factory," he said.
Competition
Burger emphasised that seals are forming colonies close to where the fish resources are.
"If we say that the north is a very good area for horse mackerel fishing, chances are that you will also see the biggest concentration of seals close to that resource. We are competing with the seals," he lamented.
"Another concern is the poor performance of the quota holders, more particularly with the pups.
"The pups are of no interest to anyone," Burger said, adding that there is no active role the industry and government are playing with regard to seals.
He further suggested that the country look into developing seal meat for human consumption as it is rich in Omega 3.
[email protected]
Speaking at a consultation meeting with the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources, he highlighted the "devastating effects" of the growing seal population on the sustainable harvest of fish stock in Walvis Bay.
According to him, the seals understand the fishing operations of vessels.
"They come for the vessels when they see them pumping. They know how we operate and there's nothing that we can do to scare off these seals."
He added that seals cause significant damage to the vessels' pumps.
"The breakages are significant and cause you to stop your pumping, which raises quality issues with the fish. Sometimes body parts of seals get into the tanks on the vessels and then come to shore. On the few occasions this happened, it wasn't a good sight in the factory as it looked like human body parts that were pumped out with fish into the factory," he said.
Competition
Burger emphasised that seals are forming colonies close to where the fish resources are.
"If we say that the north is a very good area for horse mackerel fishing, chances are that you will also see the biggest concentration of seals close to that resource. We are competing with the seals," he lamented.
"Another concern is the poor performance of the quota holders, more particularly with the pups.
"The pups are of no interest to anyone," Burger said, adding that there is no active role the industry and government are playing with regard to seals.
He further suggested that the country look into developing seal meat for human consumption as it is rich in Omega 3.
[email protected]
Comments