Etosha Fishing Company is under pressure to land the historic 10,000 metric tonnes of pilchard allocated by the government.

The company landed its first consignment of pilchards last week following an 8-year ban. This is after the government decided to grant Eco Fish Farm 10,000 metric tonnes.

The company signed a supply agreement with Etosha Fishing to catch the quota.

"In the past eight years, we have imported over 60,000 tonnes of raw materials from Morocco and Mauritania to just keep the factory operational and the workers employed," said MD of Etosha Fishing, Volker Paulsmeier, adding that "we are glad we could start the wheels again after so many years of suffering. I'm particularly glad for our workforce, who suffered the most in this instance."

The company is battling against time and other factors to meet the quota.

"We have two months to go. It's tough out there in terms of weather conditions, and normally the pilchards migrate towards the end of the season to Angola; they disappear until next season."

Paulsmeier said it is difficult for Etosha fishing to plan because the quota allocation is not predictable.

Etosha has the capacity to can 2,600 million cartons of fish per year, and the MD explained that at least 15,000 tonnes of pilchards are required for full-scale operations.

"We will have to work a 12-hour shift per day and continue on that basis until the volume changes, but it's critical to receive sufficient quotas going forward to keep this operation going." 

Due to the ban on pilchards, Etosha employees faced severe hardships because of inconsistent employment.

Etosha Fishing is engaging local partners to secure additional vessels to harvest the full 10 thousand metric tonnes of pilchard before the season closes.