Program Director, Deputy Director-General: Fisheries Management of DAFF, Ms Siphokazi Ndudane;
Her Excellency, the Ambassador of the Royal Kingdom of Norway to South Africa, Ms Trine Sykmoen;
FAO’s Country Representative; Dr Lewis Hove;
Deputy Mayor of eThekwini Municipality, Counsellor Fawzia Peer
FAO’s Assistant Representative, Mr Lot Mlati;
Ambassador of FAO at DIRCO, Mr Seleka;
Distinguished visitors, scientist
Ladies and Gentlemen
Good morning, Sanibonani!
It is an honour and privilege to stand before you on this 1st Port Call event that marks the official start of the voyage of the Dr Fridjoft Nansen, and I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to the government of the Royal Kingdom of Norway and the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for inviting me. On behalf of the Government of the Republic of South Africa- Mange Takk!
Today marks another important milestone in the history and collaboration between South Africa and Norway which dates back to the early 1990s when South Africa was still under the apartheid regime.
Our mandate as the National Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is to promote the development and sustainable use of fisheries and aquaculture as well as the development of our local fisheries sector.
The formal collaboration between South Africa and Norway in the field of Fisheries Management began right after the first South African democratic election in 1994. The two countries signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to facilitate strengthening of the capacity of the new democratic government post 1994.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I can assure you that this collaboration has contributed significantly in our ability to deliver on our mandate throughout the years.
The two countries have a well-established collaborative support system for shared research projects, expertise and knowledge. The goal is to promote high-quality research and long-term research cooperation between the two countries. As from 2013, South Africa and Norway have been conducting annual high-level bilateral consultation in order to further identify the areas of common political and economic interest. The consultation between
South Africa and Norway includes discussions on research, climate change, the environment, renewable energy and Oceans Economy.
I am delighted to mention that the Nansen research vessel has been providing great assistance on fisheries research in African countries including South Africa. This vessel is one of the principal tools that has been utilised to carry out the Nansen projects. The contribution over the years toward the regional capacity building is outstanding, I am not aware of any other program or partnership with such great impact in the fisheries space
Ladies and Gentlemen, the role and contribution of Norway to South Africa in the field of fisheries research, fisheries management and recently aquaculture is unquestionable and self-evident.
Last week, I hosted my counterpart, the Maldivian Minister of Fisheries and it is no surprise that he is the graduate of Norway under the NORAD program in fisheries management. I can count a list of prominent global leaders who passed through the training of the Norwegians- these include my staff; those at the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA); staff at FAO; Namibia; Angola; Botswana; Uganda; Vietnam to count but a few.
I am aware that the Nansen research vessel has been involved on numerous fisheries research activities conducted since 1975. The early phases of the programme focused on the exploration of the fisheries resources for the development of the fisheries. Later the focus of the programme was on the resource assessment and monitoring.
In South Africa the Nansen vessel over the past years has examined the transboundary surveys between Namibia and South Africa with the focus on the shared stocks of deep water hake. The data collected from these surveys is used to gain knowledge on the elements of the marine ecosystem and to support the informative fisheries management decisions
The restructuring of the national government sphere in recognition of the fisheries sector and its importance and contribution toward the economy, food security and job creation was evident in 2009- wherein for the first time the Fisheries Management Branch of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries was formed. To a great extent, the collaboration with Norway on Fisheries was a great contributor toward such paradigm shift.
The United Nations’’ State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture report tells us that, fishing is central to the livihood and food security of over 200 million people living in the developing world. The report adds that one in five people on this planet depends on fish as the primary source of protein.
The report also indicates the decline of capture fisheries due to overfishing, illegal fishing, a growing population and a combination of the effects of climate change. Unless we address these issues collectively, the crisis will deepen, and for us as the country partnerships such as these are extremely crucial.
Although the fish consumption rate in South Africa is fairly lower compared to the international averages, a significant number of poor communities reside in 4 coastal provinces of our coastline and fish is their utmost dependency.
The new Nansen Programme under the theme “Supporting the application of the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries (EAF) management considering climate and pollution impacts” aims at consolidating the results of the previous phase through the continued implementation of the EAF with added focus on impacts of climate variability, pollution of fish stocks and marine ecosystem productivity.
It is my understanding that in 2018, the vessel will be operating in the Indian Ocean, off the southeast part of Africa and Bay of Bengal regions. We have some of our researchers that will participate in this survey. Our participation in this region is filled with anticipation and hope that the data will be essential to guide the government’s program of the implementation of the small- scale fisheries policy.
For the first time in the history of South Africa, the President recently signed into law the amended of the Marine Living Resources Act which recognizes the dignity of the fishing communities to enable their participation in the harvesting of the fish resources that exist in the communities which they reside. Given the size of our coastline and the limited research capacities, my department conducts little to no research surveys on this side of the coast. It is therefore, this reason that we are excited and looking forward to these surveys.
Lastly, I would like to extend a word of gratitude and appreciation to the teams that have been working behind the scenes tirelessly to put all this together, and I wish the crew a bon voyage as you sail from this port of Durban
We look forward to share the information with us.
Mange Takk
Thank you
Siyabonga
