Staff Reporter
WORKERS from various fishing companies in the Erongo Region are calling on the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform to address their long-standing concerns, including poor working conditions, inadequate remuneration, and a lack of benefits.
These grievances were outlined in a recent petition submitted to the ministry by employees of Aluhe Fishing (Pty) Ltd, Helgoland, Sea Fresh and former workers of Namsov Heinaste, and United Fishing.
The workers of Aluhe Fishing, in particular, are calling on the ministry to reallocate their fishing quotas to Blue Chromis Fishing (Pty) Ltd. According to the petition, Aluhe Fishing does not own its own facilities or vessels and instead hires out its workforce to Omaulu Fishing Processing, where employees allegedly face extremely poor working conditions and receive limited pay and benefits.
“We were contracted by Aluhe Fishing (Pty) Ltd, which does not have any facility or vessel, and allocated as labour hire to Omaulu Fishing Processing, under demonic conditions of employment — no basic salary (‘no work, no pay’ contracts), no transport allowance, no medical aid, and housing allowance is peanuts. There is also nothing upon death, such as funeral cover, while quotas are allocated on an annual basis,” the workers alleged.
The employees said they have repeatedly attempted to engage with company management to address their grievances, but their concerns remain unresolved. As a result, they are appealing to the ministry to transfer their quotas to Blue Chromis Fishing, which they claim offers better working conditions.
“We have a broken relationship that cannot be repaired. We don’t want ‘no work, no pay’; we want full remuneration when fully on study, and we want a company that practises socio-economic development,” the petition stated.
Similarly, Helgoland workers are also requesting that their quotas be transferred to Blue Chromis Fishing, alleging that poor working conditions at Helgoland have caused “trauma and mental breakdowns” among employees.
“Since 1 July 2023, we have had many issues with the company as they breached the Government Redress Agreement. On various occasions, we met with the employers to resolve the matter and to allow us to be recruited by our employer, Helgoland (Pty) Ltd, but it all went in vain. This then led employees to demonstrate on 10 March 2025, seeking the ministry to revoke the fishing quotas allocated to Embwinda Fishing Company. This was not heard, and we were informed to return to Merlus Cormorant Fishing. This return brought trauma and mental breakdowns, which led to an unbearable working environment. We, as employees, are still asking the ministry to relocate us to the company of our choice, Blue Chromis (Pty) Ltd, where we will have a good working environment and fair conditions,” the petition explained.
Meanwhile, former workers of United Fishing have appealed to the ministry for quota allocations of any kind, saying they have been unemployed since 2017.
“Our season ran from 2009 to 2017, after which we were told to wait for five years because there were not enough fish in the sea. We tried asking questions by writing to the minister through the Ministry of Fisheries, the Governor of Erongo, and the Ministry of Labour too. So far, we are about 506 people, and we are requesting the Honourable Minister to allocate us quotas of any kind that are available at the moment, or to be given our pilchard quotas, since they are nowhere to be found and the factory is currently closed,” the petition stated.
Additionally, former Sea Flower workers—now employed at Sea Fresh—claimed they are working under APS without benefits. They have appealed to the ministry to reassign them to companies such as Omaulu Fishing, Hangana, or Merlus Fishing, which offer better pay and employment benefits.
Former Namsov and Heinaste workers, who have already been reallocated to Blue Chromis (Pty) Ltd, said they have yet to receive their full back pay owed to them by the ministry. They are calling on the ministry to address this matter urgently.
