Title: Economic potential of the Namibian deep-sea red crab fishery.

Sustainable economic benefits of a resource rely on sustainable regulated fishery. The purpose of this study was to assess the economic potential of the Namibian deep-sea red crab (Chaceon maritae). It adopted a bioeconomic model to assess the ecological and economics balance of the resource, and scenario analysis technique to assess onshore development potential. The bioeconomic model estimated MSY at 3,654 tons, which is 10 tons more than current harvest of 3,644 in 2017, signifying a sustainably harvested resource, with a profitable operation. Crab species are generally sensitive, and its quality deteriorates rapidly as compared to other fish species. Therefore, any disruptions in temperature, salinity, and oxygen results in low quality products. Based on the results of onshore processing scenarios, the development of onshore processing will necessitate technical modifications to the existing onshore and offshore operations for possible future development by 2035. However, a thorough cost-benefit study is required to compliment the narrations of onshore processing analysis. Furthermore, there is need for collective effort to strengthen research, capacity building and communication gap bridge between the stakeholders (government, universities and fishing industry) to explore the potential and facilitate initiatives and innovations such as utilization of by-products for economic value.