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Gendev Group ups gear

Volkers Paulsmeier, General Manager of Gendev Group Namibia explains some of the workings to the Hon. Minister Bernard Esau in the fish factory.

Volkers Paulsmeier, General Manager of Gendev Group Namibia explains some of the workings to the Hon. Minister Bernard Esau in the fish factory.

The vision of the minister of fisheries to expand and enhance land based job opportunities from Namibia’s fishing resources in the horse mackerel mid-water trawl sector came into a reality with the inauguration of Gendev Groups’ land-based horse mackerel processing plant.
Tracing the developments of this achievement Gendev Group Namibia General Manager, Volker Paulsmeier said, “We were granted an Experimental Quota and permission to operate a Pelagic RSW Trawler in November 2011. The experimental Quota was extended into 2012 and we commenced catching and landing it at our facility.”
“This allowed us the opportunity to learn, adjust and adapt the factory to process the first land based horse mackerel product in Namibia,”he added.
Gendev Group Namibia contracted the MVF Paraclete to fish against the 2000 tonnes experimental quota.
“She started trawling on 26 November 2011 and completed catching the 2000 tonnes by end March 2012. We then borrowed 1000 tonnes from Erongo Marine Enterprises and 500 tonnes from Camoposato Investments while awaiting quota allocation to Eco Fish Farm out of the Reserve Quota. For the 2012 season we processed 4700 tonnes,” he said. “After the initial stages of the experiment showed positive results, the shareholders of Gendev made additional investments without having been allocated sufficient quota to warrant ROI. However, they had enough trust that this project was the only way to guarantee a brighter future for Gendev and the wider community,” Paulsmeier added.
“At a Press Conference in March 2013 with the Hon Minister B Esau in attendance we announced the expansion of our land based facility by investing N$60 million, to expand our factory`s freezing, and processing capacity to 300 tonnes per day which, if I am not mistaken is the single biggest investment made in the fishing sector onshore for the past year or more.”

“To ensure that the operation succeeds it was now very clear that additional catching capacity had to be found to secure continued processing thus ensuring continued employment,” he added.
At the beginning of the 2014 season we were allocated enough quota and strategic alliances were formed with new shareholders, Campoposato Investments Pty Ltd and Vernier Investments Pty Ltd thus now warranting to purchase a state of the art Pelagic RSW Trawler the MSV Krossfjord with a 1200 ton capacity.
“The new Pelagic RSW Trawler the MFV Krossfjord arrived on the 29 August 2014 and after obtaining all approvals from DMA, NSI and DNV Class she went out to sea for the first time on 5th September now Namibian owned and proudly Namibian Flagged,” he said
“The Krossfjord can carry 1200 tonnes in RSW in 9 different holds with the sea water cooled down to minus 1 degrees thereby ensuring the quality of the fish that we then produce at factory level,”  Paulsmeier said. Paulsmeier thanked then thanked everyone for their support. “We would not have been able to do it without the support of our Line Ministry and its officials especially our Honourable Minister.
Our shareholders and Directors played a huge role and we thank them from the bottom of our heart.  Your continued support, trust and vision made this day possible. It is your dedication and farsightedness that contributes to this success.”

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