Great pull for fishing

The semi-arid Karoo is not the place that comes to mind for aquaculture, but in the Karoo town of Graaff-Reinet you’ll find tens of thousands of fish.

On the urban edge is a fish farm and factory called Karoo Catch. It’s a social enterprise with seven large tunnels where they grow 10,000-15,000 catfish per tunnel in freshwater ponds. Once they reach 1.6kg, they are processed into fish fillets and sausages, mince and burgers that taste like beef and pork.

“Why?” is the question some ask Karoo Catch managing director Ken Light, who explains: “SA needs jobs and an alternative to pilchards for the cheaper-protein-buying market.”

He cites department of agriculture, forestry and fisheries figures of a 89% demand for pilchards from SA’s population of 58.78 million.

SA’s pilchard demand of 397,588 tons is set against a quota of 12,250 tons. To meet SA’s demand, most pilchards are imported from Morocco and other international sources, and canned in SA.

“This is not sustainable,” Light says. “Pilchards, hake and all marine resources are being rapidly depleted in our shared oceans.”

Karoo Catch employs 230 people, which is significant in a rural area where jobs are scarce.

Residents established the company in Graaff-Reinet in 2011. In the last two years the company has been scaling up to commercial production, with a R125m loan from the Industrial Development Corporation and the Development Bank of Southern Africa, to be repaid over 12 years. – BDLive