Fishing Industry News and Aquaculture SA

Did you know, researchers from the National Research Foundation’s South African Institute of Aquatic Biodiversity (NRF-SAIAB) are in the process of describing the freshwater Goukou galaxias as a new fish species for science.

The South African Department of Employment and Labour has for the first time ever expressed its interest in becoming more involved in labour-related issues in the fishing industry. This includes vessel inspections. Find out why now... and watch the video.

The Two Oceans Aquarium, in partnership with the V&A Waterfront, has announced it will be opening the doors of its new Turtle Conservation Centre in the summer months of 2026.

The KZN Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (KZN EDTEA) recently gazetted two draft management plans. They are the Coastal Management Programme (CMP) and the Estuarine Management Plan (EMP). Both are in the public domain for comment and the deadline is looming.

Once again, South Africa’s household affordability index does not list fish as a core food. The only protein that does appear is frozen chicken pieces. Fish is however on the list of foods in the basket which increased by 5% or more in March alone.

A 50-year meeting of minds deserves a celebration and over the past weekend that is exactly what members of the South African Deep Sea Trawling Industry Association (SADSTIA) and other guests did to commemorate its golden anniversary.

The South African public can be forgiven for thinking that nothing is happening to rectify water supply problems countrywide. We have seen images of the invasive spread of water hyancinth at the Hartebeespoort Dam. But it is a shock to see the very same thing in the Vaal River System which is the source of water for about 20 million people. Although there have been some steady developments since the current Minister took office, there is a lot to fix amidst a so-called ‘water mafia’ operation that threatens infrastructure upgrades. This is a summary of what has been happening in this sector since the Water Summit in January.

Eastern Cape entrepreneur and former anti-apartheid activist, Khusta Jack, will not give up on his fight with I&J parent company, AVI Limited, over the empowerment shareholding his consortium Main Street 198 held in the fishing company. The story has been gaining traction in the general media in the past few days, and there clearly is something distinctly whiffy about it.

West Coast Rock Lobster fishers have another week in which to catch their quota allocations.

Category A applicants, Puffin Fishing CC and River Queen Trading 499 CC, have been fishing tuna pole commercially since the medium-term rights were first allocated in 2006. The businesses applied for 15-year long term rights under FRAP 2020/2021 but they were refused. Both appealed through internal channels, both lost, and then turned to the Western Cape High Court to resolve their respective matters. This is the outcome...