State of the Bay Report 2010-Final - Anchor Environmental

Anchor Environmental
species groups will probably return. The mitigation options for this kind of activity are limited and
extremely costly.
The final important type of discharge to the Bay are oil spills. Although, extremely harmful
to all biota, large oil spills are fortunately rare, and Saldanha Bay has never experienced a major spill
to date. The management options in place in Saldanha are the best in South Africa with prevention
being the primary focus.
4.2 Urban and industrial development
The first mention of Saldanha Bay in recorded history dates to 1601 when Joris van
Spilbergen mistook the present Saldanha Bay for Table Bay. Since then the name has remained,
while the original Aguada de Saldanha “watering place of Saldanha” has become known as Table Bay
(Axelson 1977). In 1623, an Icelander by the name of Jon Olaffsson entered Saldanha Bay in search
of whaling opportunities, only to find that French sailors had already commenced with such lucrative
activities in the Bay.
Shortly after his arrival in Table Bay in 1652, Jan van Riebeek sent a small vessel to explore
the possibility of local trade opportunities in Saldanha Bay (Axelson 1977). At this stage the French
had virtually hunted out the seal population, which fetched a high price for their skins. However, the
abundance of sheep, fish (4 000 harders being caught in a single day) and bird’s eggs rendered the
Bay sufficiently valuable for the Dutch East India Company to erect markers denoting their
possession of the Bay in 1657. A shortage of freshwater, however, limited development or
permanent European colonization in Saldanha Bay, although four small communities eventually
became established near Langebaan Lagoon.
Saldanha Bay was reported to be “rich in fish” and although the price for fish was deemed
“poor”, there are records of a fish trading post being established at Oosterwal, Langebaan Lagoon in
the early 1700’s (Axelson 1977). A commercial fishing industry was slow to develop in Saldanha Bay,
however, by the early 1900’s fishing was considered a growing industry. In 1903, a rock lobster
fishery was introduced in Saldanha Bay with the North Bay Canning Company and the Saldanha Bay
Canning Company being established in the early 1900’s (Axelson 1977). With increasing catches of
sardines in the vicinity of the Bay, canning companies soon expanded their business to incorporate
sardine canning. In 1948 the North Bay Canning Company was absorbed into Southern Seas Fishing
Enterprises, while in 1964 Sea Harvest Corporation was formed, subsequently becoming the largest
fishing operation in Saldanha Bay, operating a fleet of deep-sea trawlers and purse seiners and
providing an onshore fish packing and freezing facility.
The first whaling factory was built in 1909 at Donkergat, followed by a second in 1911 at
Salamander Bay. In 1930 however, the international price for whale oil plummeted, resulting in the
closure of both these factories. Whaling activities were re-established for a short period between
1960 and 1967, after which no further whaling took place in Saldanha Bay (Axelson 1977).
The establishment of fish processing factories and the substantial growth of the fishing
industry in Saldanha Bay resulted in an ever increasing number of pelagic fishing vessels harbouring
in the Bay and offloading their catch. During the early 1970’s, the methods employed to offload the
catch involved releasing substantial amounts of water, loaded with organic matter (biological waste
and fish factory effluent), back into the Bay (known as “wet offloading”). Within a short period of
time the marine environment within the Bay began showing severe signs of organic overloading and
in 1972 a mass mortality event of marine organisms (fish and shellfish) brought the pollution
situation to attention. By 1974, official waste management practices (primarily “dry offloading” of
the catch) were being implemented by the fish factories to reduce the amount of organic loading in
the Bay (Christie and Molden 1977).
State of the Bay 2010: Saldanha Bay and Langebaan Lagoon 42