“What is all the fuss about seafood? There are many fish in the sea, right? or are there....”

These were the words of Michael Farquhar, CEO of the Two Oceans Aquarium, while he facilitated a panel discussion on sustainable seafood.

The panel discussion, which explores thoughts about how to ensure that the seafood served and eaten at the Waterfront was sustainable seafood and how to preserve the environment in which they live, kicked off the V&A Waterfront’s sustainable seafood festival, which took place over the weekend at Makers Landing.

The festival, established in 2023, aims to showcase the many small-scale fishers working in the Waterfront, and the traders at Makers Landing.

At the panel discussion on Thursday November 21, Mr Farquhar said while South Africa's natural heritage on land is extremely well appreciated by the public, it is not the same for the natural heritage in the oceans.

He said part of preserving the oceans is sustainable fishing and looking after the communities and the fish themselves.

Discussion questions included how the the industry can fish in ways that supports jobs and sustainability, and how the Waterfront, being in the position that it is in, can support food and hospitality in the seafood industry, ensuring that there is a future for the oceans an the people it serves.

Petro Myburg, senior manager for sustainability at the Waterfront, said the precinct was dedicated to sustainability, with development goals aiming to create decent work and economic growth opportunities, responsible consumption and how resources are managed.

"It goes without saying that we are definitely dedicated to life below water. And so, over the last 15 years, we've worked really, really hard to make sure that we manage our resources responsibly. And so what that meant for us is in the last 15 years, we've reduced our carbon emissions to 47%. We've diverted 65 percent of our waste from landfills.“

She said the Waterfront had many partners that help promote sustainable sourcing of food.

“We really have a platform where we can work hard to attain the goals. We can also work harder and create opportunities for education and awareness.”

She said the Waterfront works closely with research programmes at universities and the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation to give people access to information to create more awareness about the impacts of life in the water and what sustainability means for that.

The Waterfront hosted sustainability awards earlier this year, where they showcase the work the tenants are doing when it comes to sustainability.

“We would like to build on that.”

Chris Kastern, the director of growth at Abalobi, said partnerships were very important when it comes to the organisation, which works with small fishing communities to record their catch data and to ensure a fair and improved livelihood from sustainable fishing.

He said through partnerships with restaurants, with authorities and fishing communities, there will be better management of resources, better data for educating people on sustainable fishing.

Speaking from a supplier perspective, Kurt Hill, the director of Cape Fish said restaurants find themselves in between wanting to source sea products locally, but also want to cater to people who want imported seafood. And with the Waterfront wanting to build a community of sustainable seafood sourcing, they are in a position to persuade tenants to work with them towards sustainability, and also push locally sourced products, he said, adding that restauranteurs should look at reinventing menus to take seafood which are over-fished off their menus to ensure sustainability of that species.

“It is quite a tricky balance for people to follow.”

Gregory Henderson, of the South African Chefs Association said traceability was important when it came to procuring fish and seafood.

He said the restaurant industry holds the opportunity to transform buying power in terms of sustainability through education.

“Chefs need more education in terms of what is sustainable, what a certification on the packaging is, and how can we plan better. In terms of whole product use, a lot of chefs right now are focusing on how can we use that entire product.

He said the stories around food was also important.

“In restaurants, if the narrative of the bigger picture shoes responsible farming and fishing, customers will appreciate it more.

“I think we've just got to start thinking wiser, cooking even wiser, and you know, obviously keep that narrative going because that certainly economy is very important to us as well. From where the sauce is, how we put it onto the plate, and after what we do after it comes from that place.”

Speaking from the perspective of fishing, Mark Botha, the CEO of the South African Fisheries Development Fund said it was critical to create spaces for small scale fishers.

One of the ways the Waterfront could help was to establish a fresh fish market, he said, which will help small scale fishers to sell their products to a wider audience, and will also help with traceability of the product.

He also said it would also hold fishers accountable, and the products would also be better quality and that a market for unknown fish species could also be beneficial, so that fishing is balanced, instead of all fishermen farming the same type of fish.

“Ultimately we want to reduce the numbers of overfishing, but also to create livelihood and food security in fishing communities.”

Mr Henderson added that the real question was: “What does sustainability mean to you?”

“In my opinion, it is the longevity of species for our future generations.”

He said while there are fish that are on every single menu, people support these because they are unaware of the recovery rates of the product.

“If you don’t do it right, you will do more harm than good.”

He said supporting small scale fishers benefits the fishers and restaurants.

“Our jobs as chefs is to make sure we know what we are buying and where we are buying it from. Understanding the seasons in which we sell fish is important. We need to be diverse in our approach in our menus. We cannot have three dishes on one menu without considering recovery rates.”

Mr Hill said one of the challenges in South Africa is that there will always be a market for fish that cannot be procured in South Africa, and “we need to ask if this is coming from a sustainable place”.

Narend Singh, deputy minister of the department of forestry, fisheries and the environment said if the communities are not being educated and if people don’t act responsibly, the resources could be depleted.

He said small scale fishers would benefit from a relationship with the Waterfront.

“A place like Waterfront with the restaurants and the buying power can encourage small scale fishers and buy from them and also work with them. If we exclude those that we need to develop in our country, we won’t have a peaceful country. If we can come together, we can create opportunities for people in the fishing sector, and if we work with young people, we can preserve our resources for future generations.”

The closing question was: Should we as consumers be eating more fish or less fish because of demand and recovery?

To which Mr Singh replied: “We should eat more fish if it is bought at the right place and is sustainable. Eat more locally caught ones. Eat more of the right kinds of fish, and ask questions. Be inquisitive.”

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