Namibian paper: seals are an economic resource

Government-owned the New Era says that Namibia's economy "is heavily dependent on its national resources, many of our people, if not all of them, are directly dependent upon the environment and living natural resources for their livelihoods."

The country strives to "never have a policy which will not have sound environmental planning and which will be detrimental to the holistic protection of our natural resources - be it flora or fauna." This applies, in particular, to natural resources "which are endemic [or] threatened," including policies dealing with the sustainable management and harvesting of seals in Namibian waters. " Seals are also resources like any other resources that ought to be managed, controlled and harvested for the economic development of the country, the paper adds.

Like fish, proper control, management and harvest of the seals are of vital importance to the Namibian economy, the New Era argues. We cannot allow our seals to be over-harvested, neither shall we allow them to stay in our waters without controlling their numbers. This we do with all the fauna in the country. The seals indeed eat fish excessively and - over time - if they are not controlled, they may become a problem.

Read the full article on http://allafrica.com.