Record Highs and Lows For SA Tuna Fishery

 The South African Tuna Pole Fishery has been bolstered this past season by the highest prices in history paid by the local exporters for their albacore catches. (South African Albacore Price Trend) Whilst the frozen yellow fin prices have remained consistently low, the albacore price roller coasted even higher and higher. This advantageous position for the vessel owners was drastically assisted by the competitive trading by these exporters to accumulate what little supply there was which was a major contributor to the high prices seen this past season. We need to be reminded that global catches were poor at this time which was also a major contributing factor. Whilst New Zealand had some catches of the smaller class of albacore, it was subsequently traded at a much lower price because of this. With the onset of the Spanish tuna season we have seen their canneries taking a more bullish position in an attempt to drive down the albacore price. This has had some effect on the price but with their catches remaining slow and low, SA albacore is still trading relatively high albeit at a level lower than last month. This past week we have seen improved catches of albacore with still the larger class of fish being landed. Interestingly, there have been increased reports of blue fin tuna swimming in and amongst the big eyes!

 With our tuna pole season still unbelievably in late operation, we have seen a decrease in the number of active vessels in our fleet still fishing. This is mainly due to the recent lull in catches prior, the presence of snoek (thyrsites atun) and the expiry of annual Local General Safety Certificates issued by SAMSA. The effect of the snoek fishing has seen a reduction in the availability of crew for the tuna pole vessels as the crews earn a higher wage catching snoek with landlines creating frustration for the tuna pole vessel owners who are port bound.

With SAMSA's Special Marine Projects Division being awarded the interim contract for our marine resource protection we have seen increased visible enforcing with the inshore and offshore patrol vessels; Lilian Ngoyi, Ruth First and Sarah Baartman, performing random inspections on the tuna grounds. Whilst they are perceived as a nuisance and hindrance by industry, we must all be reminded that it is pertinent for SA to show active policing of our marine resources to ensure that we fulfill our ICCAT mandates to ensure annual renewal of our quota for tuna species. Without this visible patrolling, SA would not be able to give guarantees (such as the IUU Catch Certificate system) that our tuna is caught according to the ICCAT rules and

regulations i.e. legally guaranteeing full IUU compliance of our fleet.

The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) has a simple diagram below highlighting some of the requirements our Department Of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) has to comply with ICCAT in order to maintain full compliance and membership. namely; timely reporting of tuna catch data per specie, observer coverage, vessel monitoring (VMS), active vessel register to name a few.

This tuna season will be reflected upon as providing a much needed respite for the vessel owners but it must be commented that many of them did not utilize this opportunity to fish aggressively and make the most of it, with some of the fleet having recorded very low catches indeed!

Navy Warship Fires on Cape Fishing Boat

Fishing just got a little more interesting for the vessel owners and crews at sea...

Navy warship fires on Cape fishing boat

Blessing Our Fleet's Heritage

With this year's Blessing Of The Fleet taking place on during the weekend of the 40th week being so close to the public holiday Heritage Day and Heritage Month, one cant help but embrace this theme for this is exactly what this festival embraces. The Blessing of the Fleet festival once again took place at the V&A Waterfront with a great attendance of both the Portuguese and other fishermen's families over the course of a hot weekend. With last season's catches having improved substantially, it is no wonder this year had an even better participation. The tuna pole fleet this past season have mostly all managed to catch decent volumes albeit nothing of the years gone by, but nonetheless a few more smiles have been seen along the quays. Who knows, maybe this year will be even better than the last? Here's hoping.

The only real major issues this off season was that of the slipways and their lack of availability. With Cape Town syncro lift having been closed for maintenance and with Hout Bay's main slip being broken, there weren't too many options available for the vessel owners. This has created an unwanted amount of tension and back log. Furthermore, there were some strike action on the Hout Bay slip, although this was denied by DAFF. This same slipway has been out of commission for a few months now. Not sure how long you need to repair a slip but then I think of all those jokes about "how many people does it take to screw in a light bulb?" Perhaps this is a clear indication that it is time for the slipway in Hout Bay should be privatized?

Secondly, SAMSA have been more vigilant this season and have been checking and enforcing the qualifications of each vessel's crew. We had to send our officers on the fire fighting, first aid courses again which is a good thing. I suspect this is due to the fact that SAMSA is currently reviewing our industry's safe manning requirements and have thus issued you with 2 certificates, namely; Safe Manning Document and now also the Advisory Safe Manning Document which outlines what you will be required to crew with the respective competence in the near future. This is all in accordance with SAMSA's initiative to align the current South African manning compliment with that of the International Maritime Organisation's recommendations. This is to ensure that we conform with the international standard especially for those vessels operating with the high seas command.

So as is this time of the year that all the vessels are receiving their preparations and diligent attention  in respect of the surveys that they will undergo to be shipshape for the up and coming pending season. The harbor is abuzz with contractors working under the ever so vigilant eye of the owners and skippers. We have seen the fleet undergo a large amount of maintenance and plank work in preparation for this years arrival of the tuna.

Staying with the heritage theme... I came across a very informative and interesting website called Trawler Heritage. The author of this site who has dedicated this effort to his late dad, has insightful information and comments regarding the fishing vessels both past and present that operate along our coast. His comments regarding each vessel which he has an extensive collection of photos published on this site, are pretty accurate. He has even noticed the color schemes changing on some of the vessels this year. If you are a vessel owner then I suggest that you take a look on his website as he probably has your vessel's history logged. He has gone into great details and effort to keep his pictures and information current and has subsequently received an international ward. Kudos to him and all who have provided assistance. The website provides a great source of information regarding our fishing heritage, harbor infrastructure and general industry news. A good read for those interested and it seems to be updated regularly.

Pictured above in Hout Bay, is three of the former S.A. Sea Products vessels now in the tuna pole sector moored alongside each other namely from left to right; "Hangberg," "Sneeuberg" & "Constantiaberg," while a fourth sister vessel the "Barbara W" which moored directly in front of them has now sunk. At present all four vessels have different owners, and were used as crayfish boats in days gone by. This picture and caption are from their website for your information. (www.trawlerheritage.co.za)

With this year's blessings having been bestowed, all that remains is for the patient arrival of the tuna. Good luck to all and may this season be better than the last.

Dear Editor...Traditional Line Fishery, Uncontrolled Beast or Cash Cow?

I came across this letter which from what I can tell hasn't made its way onto paper yet and proves to be a very insightful perspective on the line fishery, in general. I had to clean up the language a little but I feel the point is still adequately presented.

Dear Editor,

This fishery is grossly mismanaged in terms of its resource demographics. The department through blatant ignorance has allowed this industry to grow into an uncontrollable beast.

One of the effort controlling factors, vessel size, and the departments lack of economic viability studies is in actual fact its greatest downfall.

The latest outcry of line fishers to the improper allocation should be a wake up call to all managing this industry. Not only to the departmental clowns but also to all the right holders that have ridden this fat cow for years, raped the resources, reaped the benefits and stand around crying because they cant get organized and refuse to adhere to legislation or at the very least try change it. (Read all about the issues surrounding the towing of the line fisher's ski boats in my previous blog titled: Somehow Towing The Line...I mean Boat.)

How does the line fishery make money? How do you do this? Simple.... catch more fish than anyone else. So the guy with the biggest, fastest boat with the most crew fundamentally makes the most, yes…. Not anymore.

The fleet has reached critical mass in terms of vessel size. A large portion of operators now own 25 to 28 foot vessels that seems to be the boundary of where they are prepared to illegally tow and what can be accommodated in the harbors. So know they are forced lie later and later in the day to do volume. This hinders the small entrepreneur and small scale subsistence fisher as the fish prices fall to stupidly low prices where the small boats up to 6 man, cannot even cover there expenses.

The hawkers love it! WHY…? On any given day when there is ok fish, the first few boats get R25 to R30 for 500 fish, the middle boats just cover their day at R20 and hey presto the fat cats come in with 1000 and 2000 and flood the market down to R15. Then all you need is the one or two hawkers that intimidate the show and that price can drop to R10. What chance does the poor single engine guy have… Absolutely nothing at all …. Giving him a right to fish a 4 man or 5 man boat or permit is like an oasis mirage in the desert. Sounds good, looks good but not worth it at all.

Why are hawkers up in arms, SIMPLE… check the revenue from snoek…. When last did you buy a snoek at under R35? Friends of mine regularly pay up to R70 off bakkies… Granted there is high spoilage but someones making big bucks …. Its time the snoek industry owns up and comes clean, its no use hiding behind the skirts of the poor fisherman of the traditional line fishery.

Why do you think the crews are up in arms…. That guy that spent his whole pension made it easy for me, I didn’t have a care in the world except get to a harbor, I buy R200's worth of  tackle and I get half of what I catch. On a day that can be nothing…. Yes but generally in the order of R500 to R1000 per day. Never mind the days when we get the “geluk” where salaries are as high as R2000 per day when some of the tougher guys take risks and force the elements.

On  a typical snoek run in ST Helena that lasts 6 weeks, moderate operators catch over 1000 fish a day at R20. Crewmen earn up to R1000 per day plus “fries” up to 10 that they sell at R30. Paints a different picture doesn’t it? The odd idiot that complains about this arrangement is exactly what I described him as. For nearly no investment or responsibility a motivated crewman can easily pocket R80 000 to R100 000 in cash a year, TAX FREE. This also free him up to do odd jobs now and again as so many do.

The line fishery, the fat cash cow with its uncontrolled salary structures in alliance with uncontrolled poaching and interim relief … has been instrumental in the decimation of tuna pole crews and loss of skills in this sector. Why its simply easier to go fish 2 to 3 days a week make substantial tax free salary and sit at home waiting for your crayfish money than actually go to sea for a week and work for it.

Do youreslf a quick check on these figures. Take any one of the ten top line fish boats that regularly catches over 1000 fish a day in St Helena Bay, (I omitted the vessel names that were specifically mentioned here) …. And see if they are VAT registered or if the pay PAYE or workmen's compensation. Maybe  one. The reality of a snoek run just here, regardless of all the rest is as follows: 30 000 fish at R20 turns over R600 000.

Wages for 10 guys is easily up to R25000 per man in a month to 6 weeks. All cash. This is boosted by snoek runs that are shorter but no less intense in Lamberts Bay,  Cape Point and Hout Bay. The yellow tail runs once  a year at the point and Struis also contribute. Last year the snoek fleet arrived en mass in Struis Baai and totally upset the market there. In the first week we had 4 sea days where almost all the boats averaged between 1.5 and 4 tons a day. One of the vessels figures showed 8 tons, actual not the bullshit submitted in the catch returns which at that stage constituted R160 000  in four days. Crew's take home pay was up to R10 000 for the week for the better guys.

I would conservatively say that the top end operators are turning over in excess of R 1.5 million a year and are not declaring it correctly. What they do is they only declare their half of the catch, not the crews half… which is incorrect as the  law clearly stipulates that the right has the authority to sell fish and not the crew. Hence the right owner is responsible for all the sales turnover. The right holders maintain that the crew are contractors, but from a SARS perspective maintains that there is an implied relationship hence the right holder is responsible for taxation. Its lucky that this is a free for all and cash business where there is almost no way to track money and you can declare what you like as is the case with their DAFF catch returns. (How nice would this be if the tuna pole sector was allowed this luxury?)

It would be interesting to see what would happen if SARS applied itself to this industry, not just the boats but the hawkers also and see what comes out. For an industry that has a blatant disregard for so many legislations, it does seem to be crying poor mouth for all the wrong reasons. I mean how can the Department, DA and ANC actually classify the line fishery as  a subsistence type business. Some of these guys actually, really not maybe, turn over double the average tuna pole vessel. Yet its convenient to be labeled traditional line fishery because you pay next to nothing for levies and actually get sympathy when you cry about it. But its time to stand up and be counted for what you actually are.

Its time somebody woke up and smelt the coffee. Snoek and yellow tail are healthy vibrant resources that need to be managed outside of the traditional line fishery. One of correctly regulated will remain a healthy resource that will provide food security to many low income groups the other is a money spinner in terms of export revenue. The yellow tail targeted by the line fishery is an absolute waste of this resource ….with the exception of a few, the snoek fleet is its worst enemy. In the volumes they land the fish in a short space of time, it becomes a poor quality product resulting in poor returns and a drive to fish “quantity as opposed to quality” as the vessels are just not the suitable tools for this resource in terms of generating sufficient revenue to ensure maximum profitability or return from this resource.

It is far better left coastal communities and the tuna pole fleet to catch. Firstly the numbers locally landed by coastal communities will remain small and retain its value in the local market. Landed in the tuna pole fleet as fresh exports the value adding is substantial. Someone just has to get the imported yellow tail taxed to an extent that its landed cost stay at R30 to ensure the sustainability  of the coastal communities catching plans.

The tuna pole fleet has been trying for 8 years to get the yellow tail back as a legitimate target resource but to no avail as some incompetent idiots at Sea Fisheries actually believes all the nonsense about the line fishery being absolutely dependent on it. The tuna pole fishery gets told that historically(from blue books) they are not dependent on it. Yet the line fishery is. Its just that some of the older right holders were skimming the system and know the department wants to punish all because of the mistakes of those before, ABSOLUTE Nonsense. In all due respect, the line fishery needs to be properly investigated and the rot removed. I agree it is an employer, but at whose expense. The tuna pole fleet is suffering due to the growth of this sector. One that continues to grow regardless of current legislation in other areas. The crews on these very boats were traditionally the backbone of the tuna pole and freezer boat fleet. The tuna pole fishery is also a hand line fishery and is severely dependent on this skill. Good line fisherman  are simply the best pole fisherman. It is notable that the tuna pole fleet lost many of its top South African crews to line fishing boats in earlier years.

For all the good reasons the line fishery was split to prevent over fishing of reef species in ecologically sensitive areas. Hence we then had the traditional line fishery and the tuna pole fleet. The tuna pole fleet due to its inadequate resources, due to its loss of yellow tail and inability to have multi species or sector involvement nearly collapsed. One of the contributing factors was the constant crying of the traditional line fishery as to the effects reinstatement of yellow tail there would negatively affect itself.

Surely by this time it seems relevant to realize that the line fishery needs segregation to accommodate proper growth. Many line fishers would be better suited in a small freezer boat. ( Sounds almost like the tuna pole industry)This in terms of adherence to road ordinance and generally the nature of what they do. It may not suit the adrenalin junkies that need 400hp on a plank to feel like a man, but would definitely stimulate the struggling boat building economy and legalize many operations. The spin off is that these vessels are also suitable for tuna operations. Bear in mind that the department penalizes tuna pole operators for snoek fishing??? How dumb, they should be rewarded for there efforts to keep their business afloat when the yellow tail resource is being raped by another industry that is undeserving due to its general floating of countless legislation.

My suggestions to form part of the control of this section of the industry:

• 1.        Segregate the linefishery. All traditional type vessels to be area bound and resident resources in these areas to be for locals only as suggested or alluded to in the DA plan
• 2.        Ski boats under 6m be community bound and only for community projects
• 3.        Rationalize the snoek industry and form a sector on its own or make it subservient to the tuna pole industry ALLow tuna access with a Olympic TAC for this section of the sector.
• 4.        Effectively assist there transformation in accordance to the road ordinance Acts. Place a monitorium on all vessel upgrades over 7,5m or vessels and trailers with combined GVM of 3500kg.
• 5.        SAMSA to dictate terms of vessel building guidelines to prevent larger vessel being unsuitably built to meet the above requirements and endangering crew.
• 6.        Scrap any operation that cannot comply with road ordinance with financial assistance from the government. In so doing facilitate transition to Tuna Pole  industry.
• 7.        Properly evaluate the tuna pole industries resource needs in accordance to skills and economic viability.
• 8.        Facilitate a sector that facilitates snoek, yellowtail(reasonably capped in terms of TAC to prevent overfishing ) and tuna as these species are reliant on the same skills.
• 9.        Remove current yellowtail restrictions on tuna pole vessels outside the contiguous Zone. Implement an Olympic system TAC for yellow tail for the line fishery and tuna pole fisheries within the South African EEZ.

This may seem like the ramblings of an old man but they are actually the experience of an entrepreneur trying to abide by the law getting dead ended because some bureaucratic idiot isn’t dynamic enough to realize that the system they have is dysfunctional at so many levels that it cannot cope with the economic requirements of a modern fishing fleet that is dependent on mobility and or international markets to ensure profitability.

….Sometimes I wonder if DAFF’s ears are actually connected to there brains? In this comment I humbly apologize to the few that do go out there way to help as far as they can….

As far as the right holder being on board, it is absolute crap. It is nice to picture this in the line fishery but where the value adding is concerned, IT MAKES IT IMPOSSIBLE and an unrealistic requirement for the snoek fishery that can have up to 20 consecutive fishing days without rest! The department needs to find a more realistic means of ensuring the right people get allocated rights in terms of utilization.

On a lighter note, our friend Desmond Stephens has been fired as acting DDG as of the 28th of February. It must be commented that his reign at the helm could be considered controversial and even catastrophic. Let's see who will be appointed to right this floundered ship?

Somehow Towing The Line...I Mean Boat

There are not many of us who are actually aware of the fact that a large majority of the line fishery's vessels are illegally being carted from harbour to harbour along our busy roads with total disregard for public safety. This information contained here under was extracted from a concerned citizen's letter.

In an attempt to curb effort in the industry the DAFF imposed a vessel limit length of 10 meters. How was this done? Who knows? But all common sense went right out the window here. The department is an organ of state and responsible for the allocation of rights that conform to all legislation. It conveniently makes you have tax clearance certificates but does nothing about ensuring that they comply to road ordinance and workmen's compensation. Talk about choosing what to enforce and what not to at your convenience.

Due to their absolute lack of understanding of the industry they did  not realise that almost all ski boat type vessels over 7.5 meters couldn't possibly hope to meet the minimum requirements of the road ordinances act without serious investment and ridiculous maintenance costs. In actual fact it didn’t even seem to cross there minds to check this out and make a compromise in other fisheries even when told in the road shows.

In simple terms the road ordinance stipulates that all trailers with Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) of over 750 kg be braked. Then when the GVM exceeds 3500 kg it cannot be on an override system (the trailer hook that slides and uses cables to activate brakes) but needs some form of power assistance that is SABS approved. If the GVM is over 5000 kg the trailer then needs to be further fitted with ABS brakes. (yes similar to your expensive cars). 

The reality of this is that there is no SABS approved braking system that will adequately stand up to the corrosive and erosive nature of the silt laden sea water in harbours where vessels are slipped. There are some smaller systems that on smaller trailers are maintainable but the larger units prove to be to costly. 

There is a solution but it is expensive and will take some time to approve. In America the use of aluminium as a general construction material is quite normal. Its mass to strength ratio are probably 30% lower than the steel commonly used here. They also use electrical brake actuators as opposed to mechanical or air assisted systems. Our problem is that SABS does not approve this system. This simply as nobody or any south African trailer builder has submitted one for testing… This because no one is prepared to fork out the money required by SABS to test them.  (The author here went on to explain that it was due to the association not being able to collect subs, let alone pick up the tab for the required testing)

Probably the most suitable vehicles for towing these large vessels are Ford F250 4x4 and Landcruiser 4x4. Pretty much all else is to expensive, does not have enough traction or just to expensive to maintain. Trucks are probably the answer, but prove to have to little traction as the slips are slimed over and at the lower end of the tides the rear wheels lose traction, (industry is market driven not tide) 4x4 trucks are to expensive and harbour facilities are not geared to accommodate the extra length vehicles. It must be suitably noted that the most practical vehicles, Land cruisers, GVM is to low to legally even tow the larger vessels, never mind pull them out of the water with loads of fish and crew, and Ford's F250 are expensive and require heavy duty drivers licences. Good luck standing in that que.

In terms of transport, an achievable solution for under 5000 Kg GVM trailers would be aluminium electrically brake assisted trailers that operate on a 5^th wheel principle. A 5^th wheel is similar to a horse and trailer where you remove the load body and fit a plate on top of the chassis similar to articulated trucks. This allows a 5000 kg trailer to be towed legally without ABS brakes. This is achieved by having 3500 kg supported by the trailer axles and 1500 kg supported by the vehicle's rear axle. Cutting things fine on land cruisers but definitely an option. This should be fine in theory until you consider the cost… would be great of government could facilitate a buy back of inadequate towing vehicles and supply these similar to the taxi program.

The electrical braking system is fundamentally an electro magnet that is resin impregnated to prevent water ingress. The only maintenance item would be the brake shoe itself.

All said and done, the government will need to promptly address this as its only a matter of time before its too late to effectively put the brakes on this issue.

The State of the Pole and Line Tuna Industry

My first blog entry refers to the current situation facing the South African and Namibian tuna pole and line vessel owners. The tuna trading company that I work for provides financial assistance on an annual basis. 2013 has seen a record high of applicants seeking assistance to cover the financial costs associated with the repairs and maintenance of their respective vessels. Each vessel needs to undergo a bottom (hull) and top survey. Only upon passing both surveys will the vessel then be granted a seaworthy status by the South African Maritime Safety Association (SAMSA).

A photo before the surveying and maintenance of the MFV Otterdam on the slip

A photo showing the MFV Otterdam surveyed and ready to come off the slip

The past 3 years we have seen a steady decrease in the total tonnages being landed by each vessel despite the majority of the fleet now having sonar fitted. The past 3 years of poor fishing has compounded the financial troubles of the vessel owners and will soon have no other options but to sell their vessels or apply to the Department Of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) to fish in another sector, such as Hake long line.

The fishing method of poling for tuna is extremely labor intensive with vessels accommodating a crew capacity of upwards of 20 fisherman. Poling for tuna is proven to be the most sustainable method for wild caught tuna but this comes at a price. As the vessels are catching free schooling tuna, the diesel consumption per liter of diesel is higher than most other fishing methods when converted down to a per kilogram ration percentage. In South Africa we will pole mid ships on the leeward side of the vessel with the crew protected from the elements by a shelter deck spanning the length of the windward side of the vessel which is predominantly the starboard side of the vessel. In the Maldives for example, the poling vessels catch around an open stern area of the vessel and this is possible due to the calmer seas in which they operate.

There are various factors pertaining to the steady decrease but one can only speculate without the necessary scientific data to back up these speculations.

Firstly, we need to understand that our tuna caught in South African and Namibian 200 nautical mile (nm) Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is a migratory animal and wonders the Atlantic Ocean with disregard for political borders and is seasonal. The pole and line vessels usually catch tuna in South Africa between October to May and the winter months for the long line vessels.

Climate change as documented by the effects of El Nino has created a shift in our currents and prevailing winds. Last year the SE wind only blew for a fraction of what is considered "normal" and somewhat lack luster at that. We rely upon this wind to blow the warmer Mozambique current around Agulhas upon where large eddy’s of warmer water, some spanning many a tens of nautical miles in diameter around our coast, where it is helped along by the colder Benguela current up towards Namibia. We are finding the surface temperatures of the Atlantic around our coast changing which has the added result of higher concentrations of chloroform. The tuna like specific conditions and if these are not met, they will simply move on to “greener pastures.” We are finding these suitable conditions less and further in between.

The below satellite image shows the warmer water (red) approaching Cape Aghulas from where it will begin to wrap around our coast up towards the Namibian border. Currently the 15-16* Celsius water is ideal for the tuna longliners. The tuna pole vessels will look to target the schooling albacore and yellowfin found in the warmer temperature band.

Courtesy of Buoyweather.com

South Africa’s EZZ stretches some 200 nm parallel to our cost except for the Namibian border which is deviated in the Namibian’s favor and this I shall touch on in a later blog, as this subject will be hotly contested in the future. Beyond the 200 nm EEZ, the international waters are fair game to foreign fishing fleets such as the vessels that discharge in Cape Town Harbor. The entire fishing effort within the Southern Atlantic needs to be taken into account as a factor here as these vessels are able to operate beyond our borders and target the tuna with long lining and other fishing methods such as purse seining.

Seismic testing that is being conducted in South African and Namibian waters is speculated as playing a major role in the absence of the tuna this past season. But once again we lack the scientific data specifically pertaining to tuna and this remains to be recognized as a direct factor. I shall touch more on this subject at a later date as this is a topic all unto itself.

With the past couple of years having been felt as the worst in recorded history for this industry, we can only wait and see what the future will hold for the South African and Namibian tuna fishermen. With fingers crossed and abated breath we all patiently await the arrival of the first albacore and yellowfin tunas.