Shocking discovery on the Orange River

[JamesW]

I 2) It is not at all clear what the real intention of this investment is. There is no significant market for any of these species in South Africa. It is surmised that the purpose of this investment is political. Like most aid programmes, it is geared to curry favour with the SA government in order to get preferential access to SA mineral exports rather than to really develop the aquaculture system. This, to my mind, is the real danger of this sort of investment.
It is unlikely that a facility this large is intended for subsistence farming.

That is the crux of it!...

[E.T.]

google NEMBA and read the draft proposals.... all 200 pages.

Eina!!!!!!!

[Chris Shelton]

The irony of things is that I still have to apply for a fish import permit and a fish transport permit to transport the remaining yellows across the river to the NC side, with a detailed description/map of where I intend stocking them, and said permits will only be issued if the fish are to be stocked into waters within the watershed of the Orange. No way will they grant a permit if there is any chance of the yellows landing up in any other river system should a dam wall burst! Whilst I totally agree with this ruling, I find it ironic and blatantly contradictory that invasive alien species are allowed to be deliberately farmed, enmass, on the very same river where this batch of indigenous yellows originate!

[Stephen Louw]

... I find it ironic and blatantly contradictory that invasive alien species are allowed to be deliberately farmed, enmass, on the very same river where this batch of indigenous yellows originate!

Chris, are you sure they are presently farming alien species?

[Chris Shelton]

Chris, are you sure they are presently farming alien species?

Hi Stephen. Nothing is being farmed at the moment, but from what I am being told by the curator of the hatchery, this is all about to change next year when the new facility gets up and running. He specifically mentioned two species that are intended to be farmed for Asian markets, one of which is the blue carp and the catfish. Presently, the yellow breeding at the facility has been halted. The chap I spoke to has been working at the hatchery for the past 20 years and he was extremely disturbed when we spoke. He mentioned that all they still need is a signature from a corrupt government official and the whole thing will go ahead! Apparently Pierre was involved with the initial plans to revamp the present facility and was quite prominent in the initial negotiations with the Chinese but according to Piet (the guy I spoke to) Pierre de Villiers is no longer involved? Has he been purposfully removed? Is anyone in contact with Pierre? Before we speculate further, perhaps we should try and get hold of him for comment on the situation

[AB1]

Hi Gents.

The provincial leader of the DA (Free State) Roy Jenkielson, visited the facility a wile back with other local political delegates.He said at that stage it was proposed as a aquaculture hatchery for indigenous fish.

He said that he will have a look at the original proposal, and try to revisit the facility.

I have copied some of the concerns of this thread and sent it to him. He said he will answer soon.

Gents lets work together and make sure our water stays our water and our fish live in it.

[Stephen Louw]

Guys there is absolutely nothing untoward about this facility - its for yellowfish and possibly also for carp and catfish which are endemic in the Gariep-Orange system. The issue is that its an unwanted gift from the Chinese government that no one really knows what to do with. There is no market for these fish in South Africa, and you can import fish from Asia for less than it will cost you to produce them locally. I cannot believe it is commercially viable.

[Chris Shelton]

Stephen, sorry mate but I tend to disagree. Whilst there may appear to be nothing untoward right now, I fear this could all change once the new facility gets up and running.... and I don't think we should ignore it. Fact is, the current remaining staff at the old hatchery are suspicious about the real intention behind the new facility. All I am doing is telling you guys what they told me and from what I am hearing, it appears that breeding yellows are not the real reason behind the new facility, and certainly not the main priority. The old hatchery more than sufficed in this regard. Anyway, I have telephone numbers if any of you are really interested in finding out more from the existing staff at the old hatchery. I really think we should continue to keep a close eye on this one.

[rols]

The issue is that its an unwanted gift from the Chinese government that no one really knows what to do with. .

There's one for the books, I wonder whose palm was crossed here, unwantanly. Not digging you Stephen....just seems weird??

[chris williams]

Chinese project construction and mining companies when they come to Africa have a habit of bringing over their teams and setting up their own micro-community importing from China all their dietary and personal comfort goods whilst often contributing zilch in the way of assisting or mixing with locals. What they will do is build infrastructures to help themselves, not the locals, and these edifices, roads or whatever will be left when they depart. Something will only be built if it's of direct use to further their economic aims of raping/pillaging African raw materials or the environment. I'm afraid altruism doesn't really often enter the picture here in their general business ethos - it's not a xenophobic criticism, it's a fact.

So I'd hazard a guess from many years experience of dealing with my Chinese friends is that their investment in the hatchery would be ultimately with a view to use the hatchery as a prototype for other fish farms to follow, to provide their workers with a ready source of fresh fish which is a major part of the Chinese diet. I doubt ethics over alien fish being inadvertantly released or the effects of pollution from aquaculture would readily enter the big picture. I have several Chinese aquatic biologist/hydrologist mates and despite China's being the largest aquaculturist nation worldwide they tell me pollution is at horrendous levels in many of their farms back home. no doubt the local experts as others have mentioned, will be ensuring EIA's etc are strictly adhered to. There is incidentally a new process underway to make EIA's more transparent - I genuinely believe this will have at least some effect on preventing some of the scum underhand deals being approved in future.

Anyway let's hope I'm horribly wrong and all this is actually the Chinese wanting to train up our youngsters and actually contribute to our locals' lifestyle and to put something back into South Africa.