Vessels caught fishing illegally in Namibian waters could soon face fines of up to N$10 million.

That's according to Works and Transport Minister Veikko Nekundi, who said Cabinet has approved changes to strengthen the country's outdated fishing laws.

Nekundi made the announcement during a town hall meeting of the Swapo Party with national leaders in Swakopmund.

He said the move comes as the Erongo Region continues to suffer from illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.

"We have vessels coming to steal the fish undetected because they switch off their vessels' systems that tell the radars that I'm in your waters. They were switched off because they didn't care. The law was outdated because it was from the 1950s. And the penalty was only N$400. So, they didn't care."

Nekundi said the penalties will be increased so that those breaking the law feel the consequences.

"Cabinet has approved that I must amend that law to make it N$10 million if you switch off your monitoring system so that they must understand that Namibia is a sovereign state and we mean it. So we must thank the cabinet of Her Excellency Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah."

According to the Confederation of Namibian Fishing Associations, the country loses about N$1.5 billion every year to illegal fishing.

Its Chairperson, Matti Amukwa, said seven foreign trawlers, licensed to operate in Angolan waters, are believed to harvest over 100,000 tonnes of fish each year in Namibia's northern waters.

He said most of that catch is horse mackerel, but other species like hake and kingklip are also affected.

Amukwa cautioned that excluding such illegal activities from the calculation of the Total Allowable Catch could jeopardise the country's marine resources.

In August, the government cut the bycatch limit from 5% to 2% and increased penalty fees from 15% to 50%, all in an effort to stop illegal landings and protect Namibia's fish stocks.