MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Last week the Mossel Bay Advertiser published an article about a fish oil slick in the Mossel Bay harbour.
In the article Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) was quoted, saying it was a once-off incident caused by a broken sieve at the Afro Fishing factory and the problem had been rectified.
This week the owner of the company, Oceans Research, Enrico Gennari, contacted the Advertiser, saying the "oil slick" was a "daily occurence".
Oceans Research brings students to Mossel Bay from around the world who would like to do the practical part of their studies in this area. It also collaborates with marine scientists on documentaries filmed in Mossel Bay.
Afro Fishing CEO Deon van Zyl said: "Fish oil leaked out of a tank on 30 April. A sieve broke and was repaired. An environmental incident report was completed.
"IWGA, a marine and environmental emergency company, was called out and added its dispersion chemical and sorted it out." Van Zyl points out: "It was bio-degradable, organic oil. The mullet eat up the oil. That was a once-off event. There is no oil slick every day. That is wrong. There was one on Friday, 30 April. What they see now is normal plume that occurs when the factory runs.
'Water discharge permit'
"We have a coastal water discharge permit. We have pipelines A and B and have been discharging water like this since 2007. That is how the factory is run.
"There was an oil spill in 2009, one in 2010 and one that happened on 30 April."
Van Zyl stressed: "This was not mineral oil, diesel or hydraulic oil. It was fully biodegradable oil."
Van Zyl noted that with the usual discharge of water into the harbour: "Within an hour of the production run, the plume is gone. Salt water pumped from the harbour is used to clean in the factory and transport fish. That water is pumped back and drained back into the harbour. The water has a bit of blood water in it. All canneries need a certain amount of water. There are fish meal plants on the West Coast that also use water that is pumped into the sea; the water is slightly cloudy." Van Zyl indicated this was normal and legal. "Nothing has changed," he concluded.
'Attracting sharks'
Gennari had told the Advertiser: "The slick is definitely attracting sharks into the area. At sunset, Beacon Point [below Viking restaurant] is packed with fishermen. Big sharks are seen."
He fears there could be a shark attack at a Mossel Bay beach, therefore besides the discharge from the factory "polluting the environment", it was also a "safety hazard" for swimmers and surfers.
The Department of Environmental Affairs was contacted for comment on the water discharged from the factory but no comment had been received at the time of going to press.
Gennari said that besides catching sharks at Beacon Point, fishermen were possibly catching protected species. "In theory they are releasing the sharks, but they are not necessarily going to survive after being released. There is only a small area where you can land a shark there without dragging it on the rocks."
Gennari said sharks with a large body weight might not survive being dragged on rocks.
Documentaries
He said: "We've just filmed four different Discovery Channel documentaries on sharks. They are the biggest advertisement for Mossel Bay in the world. At some point they will stop coming [to film]."
Gennari asked the Advertiser to contact Chris Fallows, a documentary producer, who was filming in Mossel Bay this week.
Fallows said the amount of discharge into the harbour was worrying. "People are fishing for great white sharks in that area, although they claim to be targeting other things.
"We know that if they are hooked, not only can they possibly die, but they could leave the area as a flight response to the stress and that can cause a lack of sharks in the area. If those sharks leave the area it is a problem because they are a huge tourist attraction and they are a major environmental roleplayer," he said.
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