Swakopmund — The Government has been praised for prioritising its aquaculture programme, as well as achieving a great deal through the programme within a short space of time.

The Marketing Information and Technical Advisory Services for the Fisheries Industry in Southern Africa (INFOSA) in its publication on Africa's fishing industry noted the Namibian Go-vernment had managed to put in place a legal and institutional framework for the development of aquaculture.

It attributed this to a policy for the development of the sector initiated in 2001, followed some years later by an Aquaculture Act, and eventually the creation of an official Directorate of Aquaculture. A formal licensing system was also subsequently developed.

The publication is published annually to reflect on various aspects of development mainly within Africa's fishing industry.

The latest edition, in which Namibia received accolades for the development of the country's aquaculture sector, contains reports on the performances of the various fishing nations on the continent over the year.

The publication was distributed at a just-ended workshop on international trends in the seafood industry in Swakopmund.

The periodical stated that the Namibian aquaculture sector has clearly demonstrated that it is able to positively contribute to the achievement of several socio-economic goals.

"When undertaken successfully, aquaculture can increase the level of food security and alleviate malnutrition, provide new job opportunities, help workers to gain professional qualifications, contribute to women's empowerment and staunch the flow of migration towards more economically developed areas," noted the report.

According to the publication, the pressure on fishery resources that are destroyed through over-fishing could be relieved by the practice of successful aquaculture initiatives. Aquaculture can also represent an alternative activity to marine fishing, which is currently going through a period of crisis in Namibia.

There are three types of aquaculture in Namibia applied across many different areas of the country, the main one being commercial mariculture. Mariculture is practised around the three main cities along the Atlantic Coast - Walvis Bay, Swakopmund and Lüderitz.

These areas have a common potential for low-density habitation, are industrialised, economically developed and have an efficient infrastructure.

Since the 1980s, private entrepreneurs have invested in export-orientated aquaculture businesses, mainly oyster farming, and to a lesser degree seaweed and abalone farming.

A second and very unique type of aquaculture promoted in Namibia is family or community managed rural fish farming. In 2003, a big fish farm was constructed at Omahenene, a rural location in northern Namibia. The project provides families and local communities with fingerlings, which are grown in oshanas.

This project aims to involve local people directly in activities that can be undertaken by rural families and communities close to their livelihoods and villages.

The third type of aquaculture implemented in Namibia is cooperatively managed rural fish farming. In 2001, the Government initiated a series of cooperative-based aquaculture pilot projects in the Caprivi and Kavango regions.

Despite the lack of development in these two regions, the natural environment was suitable for aquaculture as the great rivers (Zambezi and Okavango) provide the region with plenty of water and the consumption and marketing of fish are already widespread among inha-bitants in both regions.