Assessment and quantification of Namibian seafood waste production

The issue of seafood waste has been gaining attention globally due to the increasing demand for seafood, its negative impacts on the environment, and its implications for marine conservation and policy. This study examined seafood waste in Namibia, a country with a large commercial fishing industry but limited baseline data on seafood waste. To gain insight into seafood wastage and waste management practices, structured interviews were conducted with production managers at various onshore seafood processing facilities in Namibia representing about 62% of the onshore seafood processing facilities in Namibia. Some of these companies also process at sea aboard fishing vessels, so we obtained information on offshore processing methods as well to better understand seafood wastage from seafood processing in Namibia. Total landings data for commercially exploited species were also analysed and converted to total catch weight to quantify seafood wastage. The majority (52.6%) of the surveyed processing facilities process hake as their target species. Monkfish processing facilities were found to have the highest proportion of waste (65.5%). Seafood processing facilities generated approximately 71 176.13 t (15.2%) of waste per weight of landed products in 2018. Gonads and heads of fish were the most common parts which were not processed into value-added products and were hence the main contributors as seafood waste. Survey results indicated that the bulk of Namibian seafood processing facilities (63.2%) do not process their seafood waste. Reasons for not processing seafood waste in Namibia include prolonged fishing days, especially on freezer vessels that spent 40 days at sea on average and process the catches at sea; inadequate storage facilities aboard the fishing vessels; lack of seafood waste processing equipment and expertise at both onshore and offshore facilities; and limited demand for products that would be generated from seafood waste. This study provides insight into seafood wastage in Namibia, particularly quantities of wastage and waste composition, as well as reasons for seafood waste generation.

Automated summary

Seafood waste in Namibia is mainly generated from hake and monkfish processing facilities, with a high proportion of waste from monkfish facilities. The majority of seafood processing facilities in Namibia do not process their waste, citing reasons such as prolonged fishing days, lack of adequate storage facilities, equipment, and expertise for waste processing, and limited demand for products generated from waste.