Bye bye Bi-valves

© Jonker Fourie

Last chance to get your objections in for the fish farm/mussel farm planned for the bay. The fin fish aspect has been relocated to Coega harbour area, and a bivalve (mussel/oyster) farm planned for off Pollock beach.

Neither are great idea's for a number of reasons so if you agree then get your emails in pronto. Here's why I think they suck:

Algoa 1 (off Pollock Beach)
The zoning has been updated to Bivalves at the Pollock Beach site, and although a slight improvement on the original finfish farm it still poses potentially significant risks.

• Eco-system disruption: bivalves species they will farm are not from SA and they are invasive so the danger is that  they will replace our native species on the Rocky shore and shallow reef systems in the bay. The EIA peeps reckon these invasive species are already present but this has not been verified and a comprehensive inventory should be done before they are farmed. Also, the high level of fouling that occurs on ropes and other structures may be a stepping stone  for other invasive marine invertebrates to make a home for themselves, and in turn then spread to the neighboring reefs (Philips reef, bell buoy and the extensive reef system from flat rocks to Whitesands reef). All in all not good!
• Lines/rafts from the installation can break and these wash up onto our beaches (and en route pose a risk to passing boats/yachts/ships)
• Still a pollution risk affecting water quality from huge concentrations of bivalves (feces falls below them onto the seafloor, changing the nutrient content of the water)
• Installation can act like a fish aggregating device (FAD) which in turn creates an eco-system in that area, and the presence of many smaller fish may as a consequence increase the risk of predators in the area,
• Visual impact on tourism, even though installation will probably be lower than fin fish cages still something the size of 300 rugby fields right close off shore

Algoa 7 (New fin fish zone proposed for near Coega harbour)

• All the same objections that were initially raised about the fin fish farm at Pollock apply here – but most notably the predator issue. Great Whites transverse huge distances regularly, so having the possibility of drawing them to congregate in an area still within close relative proximity to our bathing beaches is not acceptable. They routinely travel along the entire length of our coastline, so the distance between Algoa 7 and main bathing beaches is actually not significant to them.
• The added issue of farmed fish in close proximity to a marine protected area, and the genetic issues that arise from possible cross breeding of wild fish and escapee’s.

Drop Anchor Environmental an email with your objections. If you haven't yet registered as an Interested and Affected Party (I&AP) then you can ask them to do so at the same time.
Last day for submission of objections is 4 Sept 2019.
[email protected]

More info about the proposed farms here: ​https://anchorenvironmental.co.za/node/344