Western Cape Business 2019 edition

OVERVIEW
Fishing
Black owners are getting a hand on the tiller.
SECTOR INSIGHT
New fishing rights will be
allocated in 2020.
The acquisition by black-controlled Sea Harvest Group of Viking
Fishing in 2018 is part of a larger trend in which empowered
companies are taking controlling shares in fishing companies.
This is in anticipation of black shareholding likely being
a strong factor in the determination of new fishing rights, which will
happen in 2020. Sea Harvest paid R885-million for Viking. Sea Harvest has
also added to its fleet a R130-million stern-fishing trawler, which can catch
and process up 7 000 tons per year and can freeze up to 40 tons per day.
Sea Harvest’s return to the main board of the JSE in March 2017
brought to three the number of major fishing companies represented
on Africa’s biggest stock exchange. Premier Fishing also made its shares
available to the public for the first time while Oceana Group, a Tiger
Brands company, has been on the JSE for 70 years.
The Oceana Group has purchased Foodcorp’s fishing rights and a
US fishmeal and oil company, Daybrook. The biggest brand performer
for Oceana is Lucky Star canned pilchards, which enjoys 80% of market
share in South Africa.
The Western Cape is responsible for about 75% of the nation’s fishing.
The value of the national catch across 22 commercial fishing sectors is
about R6-billion. Sectors range from the highly capitalised deep-sea
trawling industry to much smaller lobster and abalone operations.
ONLINE RESOURCES
Fish SA: www.fishsa.org.za
National Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries:
www.daff.gov.za
SA Deep Sea Trawling Industry Association: www.sadstia.co.za
South African Maritime Safety Authority: www.samsa.org.za
Demersal fish such as hake and
kingklip account for 46% of the
national catch, with pelagic fish
(anchovy, pilchards and sardines)
making up 23%. Lobster makes up
11% and linefish 13%.
The National Department of
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
wants to restructure the horse
mackerel industry to promote local
fishers and processors.
Most of South Africa’s large food
companies have fishing divisions.
Pioneer Fishing, which has no
connection to the multi-product
group Pioneer Foods, controls a
canning, fishmeal and fish oil factory
in St Helena Bay and a processing
and freezing factory in the Port
Elizabeth harbour. The African
Pioneer Group holds a 40% stake
in the company, which was formed
as a joint venture with Suiderland
to control the latter’s fishing rights.
Premier Fishing and Brands
Limited, a subsidiary of Sekunjalo
Investments, runs 16 vessels
and operates at seven locations,
including a 1 760-ton cold storage
facility at the V&A Waterfront. The
company has lobster plants at Port
Nolloth and Hout Bay, and a fish
meal plant at Saldanha. Dromedaris
Visserye specialises in Cape lobster,
and supplies sardines and anchovies
to China and Japan.
WESTERN CAPE BUSINESS 2019
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