Industry stakeholders have blamed red tape for under-performance of South Africa’s aquaculture sector.
In a recent paper on the SADC-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), the European Union (EU) identified aquaculture, or fish farming, as the fastest growing food production sector in the world. However it remains underdeveloped in South Africa, contributing less than 0.02 percentage points to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Daff) – responsible for developing and regulating the sector as well as issuing aquaculture rights and permits – has projected that it could grow from R696 million in 2013 to more than R2.4 billion over the next 10 to 20 years.
Aquaculture has also been prioritised by government in its Industrial Policy Action Plan since 2010 and within its Operation Phakisa initiative under the Ocean Economy.
What then has been standing in the way of the sector’s growth?
“While the market is currently doing well, it continues to be challenging to export aquaculture products from South Africa due to the difficulties involved in acquiring the correct paperwork to do so,” accounts manager at South African company Viking Aquaculture, Jenny Serfontein, told FTW.
She noted that this was not necessarily because of strict import requirements from international markets but rather the result of too much red tape on the side of government here in South Africa.
David Fincham Aquaculture director David Fincham told FTW: “Aquaculture is the fastest growing industry in the world and yet South Africa remains at least 30 years behind the rest of the world when it comes to the development and success of the sector.
“While there is a plethora of opportunities for growth, specifically with exports into Africa, there are far too many regulations and legislation remains unclear and obstructive to any real growth.”
However Daff chief director for aquaculture and economic development, Belemane Semoli, disagreed. “The challenge around exports is not red tape and overregulation but import country requirements,” he said.
Head of trade and economics at the EU delegation to the Republic of South Africa, Massimo de Luca, pointed out that while regulatory issues remained a challenge they were not the only constraints to the development and growth of the sector in the country.
He highlighted lack of skills, investment and awareness of the sector as obstacles to its growth – along with low demand and price for freshwater species.
“Particular problems for marine and freshwater aquaculture exporters range from the high costs of complying with export health standards for small enterprises and a lack of capacity in the state veterinary service for certifying the health of aquaculture products to a ban on South African shellfish by the EU,” De Luca.
He said small and medium enterprises also lacked the market intelligence networks and in-house research capacity of the bigger fishing companies with established export markets.
