Renthia Kaimbi
Gendev Fishing Group board chairperson Paulina Haindongo has denied claims that the company is using its workers to pressure the government for a larger fishing quota.
Her response comes as Gendev considers retrenching 489 employees, a move that could raise job losses in Namibia’s wetland pelagic sector to about 1 100 since December.
Haindongo challenged critics to produce proof.
“It is not true that the company is using employees to force the government to give the company more quotas. Kindly provide us with the evidence where the company instructed the employees to pressure the government on quotas,” she said.
She also rejected claims that Gendev fishes in protected areas or records high juvenile catches, saying the company operates within sustainability rules.
Haindongo told the Windhoek Observer on Wednesday that Gendev operates two of the four dedicated wet-fishing vessels in Namibia and runs a processing factory employing 651 permanent workers and about 100 contract workers.
She said the wetland sector supports about 80% of jobs in the horse mackerel industry.
She said that between 2023 and 2025, the fisheries ministry granted wet-landed vessels an experimental licence to fish commercially in the 150 to 200-metre isobath, an area normally restricted for conservation.
The aim, she said, was to verify through scientific data that fishing in the zone would not result in high juvenile or bycatch levels.
Under the licence conditions, a scientist and a government official were required to join each voyage to collect data. Haindongo said the official report from the three-year exercise has not yet been released.
“Our team in the same vessels collected data which shows that our vessels caught less than 4% of juveniles over a period of three years and bycatches of less than 7%,” she said.
Haindongo said the possible retrenchments are a last resort and are linked to what the company considers an unworkably low quota.
She said Gendev received a 3 351 metric tonnes of wet horse mackerel quota for 2026, while its vessels and factory have a combined annual capacity of about 45 000 metric tonnes.
“It is therefore impossible to sustain employees, vessels and a factory of such magnitude with a 3 351 MT quota,” she said.
The situation reflects wider pressure in the land-based fish processing industry. Wetlanded Small Pelagic Association chairperson Johny Johnson Doëseb described the planned retrenchments as a serious setback.
He said the sector is struggling with limited access to raw materials and policy challenges, and that job losses deepen pressure on families and local economies at a time of high unemployment, especially among youth.
Doëseb said the association is calling for the creation of a dedicated fishing zone for wet-landed, land-based processors to stabilise operations and protect jobs.
“The Total Allowable Catch (TAC) system remains the most effective fisheries management tool, and when supported by strict regulatory measures and robust enforcement, it ensures that marine resources are harvested sustainably. This approach will safeguard the resource and unlock long-term socio-economic benefits through job creation, value addition, and inclusive industrial growth,” he said.
Gendev has faced similar pressure before. In 2022, workers from Gendev and Princess Brand petitioned the government to allow fishing closer to the 200-metre restricted zone to protect about 1 300 jobs.
In 2021, Gendev implemented a 30% salary cut affecting about 600 workers, after the company said it needed an annual quota of 35 000 metric tonnes to remain viable but received far less.
On Tuesday, justice and labour relations minister Fillemon Wise Immanuel asked the Gendev board to put the planned retrenchments on hold while consultations took place.
He stated that the Ministry of Justice and Labour Relations prioritises worker protection through social dialogue and should only resort to retrenchment as a last option.
“The ministry has started and continues to engage relevant stakeholders in search of a solution that would mitigate an adverse effect of the contemplated process, and if all is unyielding, to ensure full compliance with Sec 34 of the Labour Act,” Immanuel said.
