Staff Reporters
11 April 2008
Windhoek — The government has set a Total Allowable Catch (TAC) of 130,000 tons of hake for the 2008/9 fishing season, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said this week. The season starts on 1 May and ends on 30 April next year. The information ministry said that the government has also set the TACs for monkfish and orange roughy at 9000 tons each.
The TACs for hake and monkfish however remain unchanged from last season while orange roughy's has been reduced by 500 tons from last year.
The statement said, according to scientists, the total biomass index of hake increased by 34% from 701,000 to 936,000 tons after the last survey held in January and February last year.
"The increase in the total biomass index is mainly due to a huge increase in the fishable part of stock (mostly Cape hake), which increased by 186% from 121,000 to 346,000 tons.
"Despite the improvement, the hake stock is still in a critical condition and needs to be slowly rebuilt to sustainable levels," the statement said.
The statement said October would be a closed season for the hake fishing industry to allow for breeding.
The TAC for hake will contribute N$47 million to government revenue because of higher fish prices on international markets. Monkfish will generate N$ 6.75 million in revenue.
It is also expected that orange roughy will contribute N$1.35 million to government coffers if the whole TAC is caught, the statement said.
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