MOSSEL BAY NEWS - "The ocean economy - as well as the influence of the petrochemical industry on Mossel Bay's economy - does not feature as a priority in the local economic development strategy of the Mossel Bay Municipality, an issue that should be addressed urgently." This is the opinion of the chief whip of the ANC in the municipal council, Councillor Jovan Bruinders.
In a motion tabled at the recent council meeting, councillor Bruinders moved that council should support the allocation of the Department of Forestry and Fisheries (DOFF) to the emerging empowerment fishing companies in the Southern Cape and in particular in Mossel Bay.
During discussions Councillor Bruinders acceded that neither industries form part of the core competencies of the municipality, but instead warned that adverse developments in these industries could hold dire implications for the local economy and urged that provision should be made for the ramifications that may hit the local workforce extremely hard.
Councillor Bruinders insisted that the fishing industry, though scaled down, is an integral part of the community, especially in D'Almeida, where as many as two of every three households have a direct and traditional link or connection with fishing.
He lambasted Viking Inshore Fishing for having launched an interdict in the High Court against the allocation of inshore hake to emerging black business and defended the department's decision to allocate as much as 60% of Viking Inshore Fishing, 30% of BMC, and 60% of Sea Vuna to emerging black business.
"The ethos of this decision of the national DOFF is to break the stranglehold of mono capital that has controlled this industry for ages," Councillor Bruinders argued.
He mentioned that the result of Viking Inshore Fishing's application before court is that all inshore hake fishing has come to a halt in the rest of the country also.
He further argued that Viking Inshore Fishing had over years managed to build a sizable infrastructure that could, at best, with negotiations be used by the new emerging companies, especially for harvesting and processing.
Viking Inshore Fishing is among 27 fishing companies that have been temporarily suspended from harvesting hake and sole, but it maintains that the interdict granted by the Cape High Court was necessary to prevent irreparable harm to the company and secure the livelihoods of 179 employees. The court case is scheduled for 18 to 20 April.
The allocation for inshore hake trawl fishing, one of the most sought-after quotas, was awarded on 21 December, with 12 of the 27 rights given to new entrants. The rights are allocated for a period of 15 years. Established commercial fishing companies, such as Viking stand to lose substantial volumes in the new allocation. Close to 200 Mossel Bay employees of Viking Inshore Fishing could lose their jobs because of the new rights allocation.
Viking Inshore Fishing representative, Tim Reddell, recently told the Mossel Bay Advertiser that, following the allocation of 15-year rights in the R700 million per year-earning fishery, the company's quota was cut by approximately 60%, despite it achieving the second highest score in the process used by the DAFF to rank aspirant right-holders.
The quota cut seriously threatened the survival of the company's inshore trawl operation which was built up over 28 years.
"A 60% cut in our quota will devastate our business and see us lay up three or four vessels - leaving the skippers and fishing crews without work and in due course close down our hake and sole handling, packing and processing factory in Mossel Bay. This would destroy the employment opportunities we have created over many years. We decided we couldn't do that to our people," he said.
DAFF's allocations have overlooked the fact that a company with investments in vessels and infrastructure and 28 years of experience is in a position to offer good jobs with negotiated wages and benefits that could never be matched by a start-up with no experience in the fishery.
"The reality that the councillor overlooks, is that the new allocations have been made to companies that are located in Port Nolloth and Cape Town. So the very (Mossel Bay) people the councillor refers to will not receive any relief from these allocations," Viking Inshore Fishing Operations Director Craig Bacon said.
"The interdict was never to stop new emerging players. It was to focus the minister on applying his mind to the appeals so as to ensure the local Mossel Bay area is once again able to supply quality jobs to locals. In fact, the allocation mechanism is so flawed that a 100% black owed Mossel Bay fishing company, BMC, that has performed and invested in the sector, has also suffered a substantial cut in their allocation."
In another - unrelated - fight to keep the industry afloat and secure jobs for local employees, Afro Fishing, the sardine canning factory in Mossel Bay, is importing thousands of tons of Moroccan sardines since it signed a R90 million deal involving Moroccan fishing companies in November last year.
Afro Fishing founder and chief executive Dewald Lourens senior told Guy Rogers of the EP Herald: "It's an expensive operation and the margins are narrow so it's a nerve-racking business. But we have nearly 400 people working at our factory and there aren't many jobs out there if we had to lay them off."
The deal was precipitated by the drastic reduction in the annual national total allowable catch (TAC) for sardines issued by SA's DAFF from 90 000 tons in 2014 to 23 964 tons this year. This reduction has, in part, been attributed to shifting shoaling patterns caused by climate change, but also to overfishing.
With the sardine catch quota drastically reduced, Afro Fishing has had to import tons of sardines to sustain its canning factory and to allow the company to continue supplying its main client base - 10 government-managed school feeding schemes around the country. "The profits were not large but it was worthwhile," Lourens said.
Afro Fishing, founded 11 years ago, was the only sardine cannery in the KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and Southern Cape regions to have taken the step, Lourens said.
"Since we started importing frozen sardines from Morocco last year we have brought in 50 containers, and we aim to bring in 250 this year," he said.
"Each container holds 28 tons of sardine cutlets, so that's 1 400 tons last year and a predicted 7 000 tons this year."We just want to keep alive and this deal has allowed us to do that."
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