Who We Are
Following a number of consultations with all stakeholders and the replacement of the Fisheries Act with the Marine Resources Act of 2000, the Fisheries Observer Agency (FOA) was established and started operations in May 2002 after the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement between the Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources and the Chief Executive Officer of the Agency. Since then the agency continued to operate from offices in Walvis Bay and Lüderitz.
The FOA is tasked with providing Administering and managing the Observer Programme. All observers that were employed by the MFMR were transferred to the FOA on 1st May 2002. The Observers are now all permanent employees and receive a Basic Salary, an allowance for each day spent at sea and fringe benefits such as medical aid, pension and housing.
FOA`s Primary goal is to contribute towards sustainable utilization of Marine Resources within the Namibian EEZ and international waters by providing an efficient and transparent service to all its stakeholders through actively monitoring the compliance with marine legislation and the collection of relevant and reliable scientific data.
The presence of fisheries observers on-board fishing vessels, and on the fishing grounds, is instrumental in preventing illegal fishing activities as well as complementing international measures aimed at curbing Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing activities. Scientific data collected by observers is used as an important variable in the stock assessment process, to define fishery dynamics and population distributions of target species, as well as support to other fisheries management programs.
Walvis Bay Office
Phone Numbers
Tel: +264 64-219-500
Fax: +264 64-219-547
Address
1274W 1st Street, East
Walvis Bay, Namibia
Lüderitz Office
Phone Numbers
Tel: +264 64-203-658
Fax: +264 64-203-548
Address
Old Seaflower Building, Insel Street, 15
Luderitz, Namibia
