Environmental and Social Impact of Oil Activities on Coastal Fishing
Fishing activities along the coastline near the proposed TotalEnergies oil production site at Lüderitz are expected to experience minimal disruption from oil-related operations. This conclusion is drawn from an environmental and social impact assessment conducted for the Venus offshore block PEL0056/Block 2913B, which is being explored by the French oil company TotalEnergies.
The assessment, carried out by independent consultants, highlights that certain marine animals inhabiting soft seabed sediments may be affected by the release of mud and chemicals into the water. According to the report, “the mud and drill cuttings can make the water cloudy (turbid), which may affect how some animals feed or breathe, and chemicals in the mud can reduce oxygen levels in the seabed over time.”
Big fishing boats that use long lines to catch large fish will need to avoid designated safety zones around the oil drilling site to prevent entanglement with equipment. However, the report also notes that there may be some behavioral changes in fish due to underwater noise. “Increased underwater noise and discharges may cause minor behavioural changes in fish,” it states.
One of the areas where oil production is planned is home to several species of fish that are significant export commodities for Namibia, including sardines, anchovies, horse mackerel, snoek, and chub mackerel. In the area where line fishers operate, there is a small protected zone of approximately 9 square kilometers around a nearshore buoy. While this could cause minor disturbances for these fishers, the report indicates that the protected zone overlaps very little with their usual fishing spots, resulting in minimal impact.
“Underwater noise generated during transshipment operations may temporarily influence fish behaviour, but these effects are confined to a small area and occur within an already busy marine traffic route,” the assessment notes.
Small-scale local fishers near the coast are also not significantly affected because their activities are primarily in shallow waters or along the shoreline, away from restricted zones. The small protected area around the transshipment site overlaps very little with where they fish, meaning their fishing should not be significantly impacted.
“The proposed restricted area has a very small overlap with active small-scale fisheries grounds, which are mostly limited to intertidal shellfish collection and shallow water seaweed harvesting – these activities occur well outside the transshipment area,” the report states.
TotalEnergies, along with its joint venture partners—Impact Oil & Gas, QatarEnergy International E&P LLC, and the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia—is currently conducting another round of public consultations for its environmental and social impact assessment report before seeking approval from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism.
The petroleum exploration licence (PEL) for PEL56/Block 2913B is located 300km from Oranjemund, 320km from Lüderitz, and 700km from the main port of Walvis Bay, from where the oil will be exported. The capital-intensive project aims to extract oil 3,000 meters from the seabed, after another 3 kilometers from the water surface.
The project involves drilling up to 40 wells, consisting of 20 oil-producing wells and 20 gas injection wells, as outlined in the report.