MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Mossel Bay residents have reacted with concern at the news that Afro Fishing (Pty) Ltd, the owner of the canning factory in the harbour, is planning to establish a fish meal factory on the old I&J premises.
There are also plans to expand the canning factory to accommodate red herring, anchovy and other fish species catches.
An opportunity allowing the public, neighbouring property owners and key stakeholders to register as Interested and Affected Parties (I&APs) and consider/comment on the proposal started on 22 February. The cut-off date is 25 March.
Local concerns
Mossel Bay municipal manager Adv Thys Giliomee has asked residents to remain objective and consider the advanced technology which will be used - similar to what is already being used, where much the same type of plants in harbour towns have been in operation for some time.
Locals who have approached the Mossel Bay Advertiser have, however, vehemently complained about the potential impact of the fish meal factory on the tourism industry especially.
They fear it may negatively impact plans for the harbour's redevelopment into a waterfront and surmise that job losses in the tourism industry will far outstrip the potential employment gains as proposed.
Residents fear the rotten fish smells associated with fish meal plants the world over will negatively impact their quality of life and devalue their seaside properties. Local experience of the existing fish meal plant in Mossdustria exacerbates these concerns.
"For a town whose livelihood so heavily depends on the seasonal tourism sector, where huge investments are made, also by Mossel Bay Tourism and the municipality into tourism, town festivals and the marketing of the area as a choice tourism destination, it is difficult to imagine that investment can be negated and played off against the creation of some 200 jobs.
"The potential job losses in the tourism industry far outstrip that figure," a businessman who preferred to remain anonymous, said. The Cape Environmental Assessment Practitioners (Cape EAPrac) have been appointed as the independent Environmental Assessment Practitioner (EAP) to facilitate the legally required Environmental Application Process in terms of the relevant legislation.
The competent authority, in this case, is the Western Cape Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEA&DP) and the Garden Route District Municipality.
In a background document into the proposed development Cape EAPrac said expansion of the current Afro Fishing facility to include fish meal and oil reduction processes was proposed on the current footprint of the old I&J facility, with a new canning store adjacent to the current Afro Fishing store.
Sole purpose
Afro Fishing proposes the harvesting of industrial fish such as anchovy, red-eye, and the like from local waters for the sole purpose of producing fish meal and fish oil.
The expansion project will include the fish meal and oil reduction plant; a fish freezing plant; cold storage; a fish meal warehouse and a new canned product warehouse.
The proposed alterations will allow Afro Fishing to process 1 000 tons per day of raw fish. The reduction process will include the following unit operations:
- Cooking
- Pressing
- Liquid-solid separation
- Steam drying
- Waste heat evaporation
- Oil-liquid separation
- Cooling / grinding / bagging
- Boilers for steam generation.
Cape EAPrac states that Afro Fishing (Pty) Ltd envisages an investment of R300m to R350m in this project.
The investment will diversify Afro Fishing into other fishing, namely anchovy, sardinella and red-eye herring. The proposed project will produce fish meal and fish oil products for export markets, with the expansion potentially increasing direct employment from the current 341, to approximately 560 persons.
Cape EAPrac also said the project will increase the canned fish production of which a large percentage of the canned fish production goes into the National Schools Nutrition Programme, where Afro Fishing supplies ‘affordable protein’ for school feeding.
Mitigating smells
The design of the plant, especially the use of RTO (re-generative thermal oxidation) is said to be based on a similar facility, Narciso Dias & Filhos, LDA, located in Peniche, Portugal.
The reason for this is due to the similarity in location (seaside town) with tourism as a main driver for the economy. The use of RTO in the plant led to significantly improved odour control management and eliminated offensive odour problems previously experienced. The RTO destroys Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs), Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and odorous emissions that are often discharged from industrial or manufacturing processes.
Approval
The harbour is zoned as Transport 1 with various consent uses. The expansion of the Afro Fishing facility to include a fishmeal and oil reduction facility will require consent use and other planning approval from the Mossel Bay Municipality.
Going forward, registered interested and affected persons will be provided an opportunity to review and comment on the Basic Assessment Report (BAR) and Environmental Management Programme (EMPr) when they become available.
Input/comments received during process will be considered and responded to in the final report, to be submitted to the competent authority for review and decision-making.
To register, send your registration request, name and full contact details, and any preliminary comments for the attention of Melissa MacKay, to Cape-EAPrac, PO Box 2070, George, 6530. The contact details are 044 874 0365 and mel@cape-eaprac.co.za.
The source of this report is the background information document into the proposed development compiled by Cape-EAPrac.
For the full Background Information Document in Pdf format, click here:
Afro Fishing expansion.pdf.
'We bring you the latest Mossel Bay, Garden Route news'
