For the time being, no fish farm will threaten Port Elizabeth’s Hobie Beach. Picture: BRIAN WITBOOI
Business welcomes decision to put controversial fish farm plan on hold
HOBIE Beach will remain unblemished by a fish farm for now, after Minister of Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa decided to put the development of the Algoa Bay fish farm on hold.
This decision was hailed by local business as a positive move, but environmentalists are not convinced.
Molewa signed a document on August 18 outlining reasons for reverting the decision on environmental authorisation for the fish farm back to her department’s directorate for integrated environmental authorisation.
She wanted further studies done on the economic impact of the fish farm, and she wanted more research done on an alternative site.
According to the documents, Molewa wanted a detailed analysis comparing the projected revenue and employment opportunities likely to be created by the fish farm, against the perceived loss in revenue and employment opportunities should the fish farm have an impact on sporting events and tourism.
She also wanted a feasibility study done on an alternative site known as Algoa 5 – 4.2km off the coast of the Sundays River Mouth – and a comparison to the studies done on the site called Algoa 1 – 2km off-shore from Hobie Beach.
This decision comes after 28 official appeals were lodged during September and October last year and an online petition against the farm and its proposed location generated more than 17 000 signatures.
A series of meetings were also held with local stakeholders about their concerns over the proposed farm.
Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber chief executive Kevin Hustler said he welcomed the minister’s decision as business opposed the project due to the proposed location and the impact it could have on the beachfront tourism industry.
“Our concerns, as we have submitted on more than one occasion to the Department of Environmental Affairs, in writing and during stakeholder meetings, were based on the impact the fish farm could have on tourism and the environment, as well as the apparent lack of consultation with all the stakeholders in the metro,” Hustler said yesterday.
“The extended value of coastal and marine tourism in Nelson Mandela Bay runs to an estimated R13-billion per year, which supports thousands of jobs. The economic value of our beachfront should not be undermined – any risk to this pillar of our local economy must be averted at all cost.”
The chamber asked the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to take care when reassessing the proposed locations for the fish farm and to “ensure thorough stakeholder engagement” from here on.
But while the chamber lauded the minister’s decision, marine biologist Shirley ParkerNance did not consider it a win in the fight against the fish farm, but rather a delay that could have dire environmental consequences.
“All this decision by the minister means, is that we will not have a fish farm by December.
“What is concerning though is that they are now looking at a site near Sundays River that was scrapped from the list right at the start of the fish farm debated,” Parker-Nance said.
A research associate with the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Parker-Nance was part of the team that spearheaded the campaign against the fish farm.
She said six possible sites were identified for the fish farm and all of them were removed from the list due to environmental impact issues.
Algoa 5 was scrapped because it was situated in the middle of a location earmarked to become a marine protection (MPA) area under the care of the Addo National Elephant Park.
“An MPA was proposed for that area years ago, so it can become a haven for indigenous fish species, where they can breed in the wild. But an aquaculture system like this fish farm will bring alien species, more waste and attract more predators to put the indigenous species at risk. It will defeat the entire purpose of the MPA.”
Sanparks spokeswoman Fayroush Ludick confirmed Parker-Nance’s concerns, saying Addo had opposed the fish farm at Algoa 5 since its initial proposal. “A fish farm would bring with it increased predation, specifically on African penguins.
“This is a major concern as St Croix island is home to 6 500 breeding pairs of penguins, the largest population of breeding pairs in the world. There are also fears about genetic contamination by alien species coming into the area and threatening local species with diseases and pollution.”
What makes Parker-Nance even more uneasy about the current situation is that both the proposals for the fish farm and the MPA sit with the same minister, and she will ultimately decide on the fate of both these projects.
Another point raised in Molewa’s decision to halt the fish farm was concern coming from Airports Company South Africa (ACSA), and their worries about increased birdlife along the shore when a land-based plant was built to process the fish farm’s stock.
The document states ACSA’s concerns over bird collisions with aircraft at the Port Elizabeth International Airport, as the proposed fish processing plant will attract flocks of birds to feed where the fish are processed.
But Molewa said ACSA’s opposition was irrelevant at this stage as current studies were only related to the farm, and not the subsequent plants that will be required.
ACSA spokesman Colin Naidoo said they were still in meetings with the department and relevant stakeholders and no decisions had been made yet.
-Riaan Marais
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