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The Committee received a briefing by industry stakeholders on the state of aquaculture and commercial fisheries in South Africa, and areas of improvement for their sustainability. Key considerations were their contribution to local economic and human development, food security and livelihoods; successes and challenges with regard to the governance and management of the fisheries; and proposals to achieve objectives that contributed to the alleviation of poverty, unemployment and inequality.

The Aquaculture Association of Southern Africa provided insight into the status of several marine and freshwater aquaculture species, while Aquaculture South Africa presented mainly on the commercial value of the sector, its challenges post-COVID-19, and possible solutions to stabilise the industry.

In recent years the aquaculture industry had expanded substantially, with production levels increasing by almost 75% since 2013 to approximately 6 000 tons. The abalone and trout sectors remained the most valuable, contributing just over 90% of the total value of the industry, with abalone contributing 77%, trout 10% and mussel 6%. The total sales value across the aquaculture sector in 2018 was approximately R1 billion, excluding additional value generated through leisure and tourism, such as trout farming. The main challenges were onerous local regulations, the impact of COVID-19, access to water and unsuitable climatic conditions, the absence of economies of scale, a reliance on exports and a highly competitive international market environment.

FishSA, an umbrella body that represents the commercial fishing industry in South Africa, provided details of its 12 member associations, and said the sector directly employed in excess of 27 000 South Africans. A further 100 000 people worked in associated industries that supplied goods and services to the industry.

Members wanted to know how South Africa was able ensure that imported fish came from responsible fishing. Another important topic was transformation in the industry. There were concerns that subsistence fishers were being neglected in favour of commercial and small-scale fishers. Did the Department have sufficient personnel to monitor the fishing sector effectively? How effective was the training offered to the wide range of participants in the sector?

He said that the first presenter would be Prof Peter Britz from Rhodes University, on behalf of Aquaculture South Africa. Mr Rob Landman, Acting Chairperson: Aquaculture South Africa, would present next. Third would be Mr Craig Smith, Senior Manager: World Wildlife Fund (WWF) South Africa's Marine Programme (presenting for the Responsible Fisheries Alliance). Mr Junaid Francis, Sustainable Fisheries Manager: WWF, would be accompanying him in presenting. Third to present would be Mr Loyiso Phantshwa, Chairperson: Fish SA. After the four presentations, there would be a discussion, and then the meeting would be closed.

The Chairperson replied that the Ministry was represented to take notes. The PC would take notes, and engage the Department separately. The five delegates included Mr Themba Gift Mnguni, Parliamentary Liaison Officer: DEFF, and Ms Nomsa Hani, Head of Office: Deputy Minister: DEFF.

Aquaculture Association Southern Africa was open to anybody with an interest in aquaculture. It was affiliated with the producer body, Aquaculture South Africa. The latter was formed at the behest of the Department, so that there would be a representative industry body that allowed Government to interact with producers.

In South Africa, aquaculture took place in the sea and in freshwater. Most of the value was on the marine side, with the farming of mussels, oysters, abalone, seaweed (Ulva, Gracilaria), and dusky kob. On the freshwater side, there was trout, African catfish (barbel), and tilapia.

Aquaculture was the youngest farming sector in South Africa. Production had grown steadily, from 346 tonnes in 2015 to 7 103 tonnes in 2019. Aquaculture was relatively small in total tonnage, but it generated a significant value amounting to R1 145 million. The industry provided 3 250 direct on-farm jobs, but this did not include the rest of the value chain. Aquaculture was now a significant contributor to jobs and fish supply, especially in the coastal areas.

The potential of the sector had been recognised early by Government. The National Aquaculture Strategic Framework (NASF) was put in place in 2012. Because of the high hopes attached to aquaculture, there was a significant amount of support for creating an enabling environment for the sector to grow. Interventions were required to address market failure, e.g. value chain development, capacity building, transformation, food security, rural livelihoods. The NASF was aligned with government development policies such as the Industrial Policy Action Programme (IPAP), the National Development Plan (NDP), and the DAFF Integrated Growth and Development Plan.

The Saldanha Bay ADZ was considered a great success. This had made it possible to grow the industry in Saldanha Bay, otherwise individual companies could not get access to water. The Department had done a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), funded Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), and put in place infrastructure and private-public partnerships. These interventions were beyond the capacity of an individual firm, which had helped to unlock the potential of the sector.

Abalone was the most valuable sector, with 14 operational farms producing 1 657 tons in 2019, which were worth R1 billion. These were highly intensive, shore-based farms which used home-grown technology, and provided 2 000 permanent jobs. COVID-19 and Chinese politics were major challenges which had resulted in a drop in production, retrenchments and possible closures.

Oysters and mussels were sold in the local market, and were increasingly penetrating export markets. There were eight operational farms in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape, with the Saldanha ADZ being the main site. Production was 383 tons of oysters and 3 055 tons of mussels in 2019. There were 250 permanent on-farm jobs.

The marine fish, Dusky Kob, also known as kabeljou, was indigenous. The sector used local technology, with shore-based production. One hatchery was in the East London industrial development zone (IDZ). Because of high production costs there were economic viability challenges. This fish was difficult to farm onshore, and the technology had not been perfected -- it was not yet commercial. There was investment in the species, however.

Trout farming was the oldest form of fish farming in South Africa, and was done in freshwater mountainous areas, where the water was cooler. There was growing trout production in the Lesotho highlands, which was mainly sold into the South African market.

Mr Robert Landman, Acting Chairperson: Aquaculture South Africa, said Aquaculture South Africa was a producer organisation that was formed in 2014 at the request of the then Department of Agriculture, as a body to represent the producers of aquaculture in South Africa.

Producers farmed in both the marine and freshwater sectors. The marine environment had various forms of farming -- either on land (abalone, mussels), or in the ocean (sea cage farming of marine fish). In the freshwater environment, producers farmed trout that was stocked into rivers, farming on land, and in state dams (which hold trout cages). Tilapia was also farmed, mainly using hydroponic systems.

The marine environment producers were the Marine Finfish Farmers Association of South Africa (MFFASA); Abalone Farmers Association of South Africa (AFASA); and the Bivalve Farmers Association of South Africa (BFASA).

In recent years the aquaculture industry had expanded substantially, with production levels increasing by almost 75% since 2013 to approximately 6 000 tons. The abalone and trout sectors remained the most valuable, contributing just over 90% of the total value of the industry, with abalone contributing 77%, trout 10% and mussel 6%. The total sales value across the aquaculture sector in 2018 was approximately R1 billion, excluding additional value generated through leisure and tourism, such as trout farming.

Aquaculture was not the panacea that would save wild fishery. Aquaculture was very specific. It was like any other farming, in that one needed economies of scale. For example, to start a salmon farming operation in the fjords of Norway, one was not looking at anything less than 12 000 tons. This was important to understand in the context of the environment in South Africa, and whether the country had the environment to build an aquaculture industry on that scale.

South Africa was currently a small part of the aquaculture industry in the world. Aquaculture had a very small part within the DEFF. Success had been in the abalone sector, where the private sector had put a lot into the development of technology, and had then started land-based operations.

There had been a price pinch over last year or so, as the Hong Kong protests had caused a disruption in the supply chain, and farmers were faced with price wars. There were the trade wars that the USA imposed on China, which stopped a lot of products going from Hong Kong into China. South Africa competed against Australia, Chile and Mexico, New Zealand and China for a share of the abalone market. It paid a tariff into those markets, whereas Australia, for example, had free trade agreements with China, and was able to sell and compete against South Africa in that market.

With mussel farming, one had to do EIAs, and there was a very onerous regulatory system in South Africa. In the aquaculture sector, the farming sector had to abide by a lot of environmental laws and EIAs. South Africa competed against sectors that did not have those regulations imposed on them. There were production limits because of the EIAs. Mussels were filter feeders, so one would think that the more mussels one could put into the Saldanha Bay area to filter the water, the better it would be, but that was not how people saw it. The regulations limited mussel farmers to a production level that was sometimes not economically viable. The mussel farmers were producing a lot of mussels, and the market for seafood locally was not where all the volume could go to. Most of that volume had to go overseas.

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