Overfishing under control, says government

According to the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources it has been successful in turning around the situation of over fishing in Namibian waters which prevailed before 1991. In a statement, the Ministry announced that at present there are no more species that can be classified as being overfished or depleted. The Ministry pointed out that a revised Marine Resources Policy it planed to table in the National Assembly soon was not "new" but updates the 1991 White Paper. At the time, the document entitled Toward Responsible Development of the Fisheries Sector, aimed to rebuild Namibia's plundered stocks to establish an effective fisheries monitoring system. Permanent Secretary Nangula Mbako said in the statement that Namibia was now internationally recognised as having some of the best fisheries management regimes in place. According to him, with the changes on the local, regional and international front since Independence it had been necessary to update its policy. The revised policy will include international best practices for fisheries management and the key international accords to which Namibia is party. (The Namibian, Windhoek)