Shot in arm for marine economy

Off-shore bunkering, a new round of fish farm proposals and the new marine protected areas recently declared by the government are on the agenda at a public meeting at Bayworld on Tuesday night.

Captain Neville Noble, from the South African Maritime Safety Authority, will explain the ship-to-ship bunkering taking place in Algoa Bay, meeting co-ordinator Dr Lorien Pitchegru said on Monday.

“Ship-to-ship bunkering is the equivalent of petrol stations at sea for big cargo ships.

“At present, two companies are licensed to conduct these operations, but two additional applications are being considered for licensing.”

Pitchegru, who is a penguin researcher at Nelson Mandela University’s Marine and Coastal Research Institute, will speak after Noble, “to expose some of the risks and potential consequences of oil spills in Algoa Bay on the marine life and the local economy”.

Meanwhile, a new environmental impact assessment process had started for a fish farm, with many sites being considered, including in front of Pipe (Pollok Beach), she said.

“This process, and how to register as an interested and affected party, will also be noted.”

Pitchegru, who is chair of the Algoa Bay Hope Spot, which hosts the Know Your Bay programme of meetings at Bayworld, will also focus on the marine protected areas (MPAs) declared at the end of October by the department of environmental affairs.

One of the 20 new entities is the Addo Elephant National Park MPA.

The Algoa Bay Hope Spot was declared in SA in 2014 by US aquanaut Dr Sylvia Earle as a marine zone of global importance, as part of “the Earth’s blue heart” stretching through 101 hope spots worldwide.

The meeting is scheduled to start at 5.30pm for 6pm.