Introducing our fourth beta trial fishery – South Africa Yellowtail Fishery.
For this trial, we have partnered with two parts of the yellowtail amberjack (Seriola lalandi) fishery: one with ABALOBI, the smaller fishing vessels (approximately 2 crew), and the other part is coordinated under Woolworths consisting of larger vessels (though still small-scale in nature) with different gears. Each of these larger vessels has an average of 7-10 crew onboard .The fishery produces around 200 tonnes of yellowtail each year.
Under the Abalobi supported portion of the fishery the Struisbaai Traditional Line Fisher’s Association (STLFA) is active, which has a constitution and membership structure, supporting a collaborative structure between fishers.In terms of supply chain, a large proportion of the yellowtail catch is sold via the ABALOBI marketplace, mostly to local buyers. ABALOBI works with the fishers to facilitate market access, traceability, cold chain, logistics, and fair remuneration for fishers and fish workers. Outside of ABALOBI, fishers sell a portion of their catch to intermediaries who pay variable rates per kg and do not offer traceability or a robust cold chain.
The main barriers the yellowtail fishery faces is that local market demand remains limited, high overheads, and continued reliance on middle-persons. The fishery’s main aspirations therefore are an expansion of national market demand, as well as establishing consistent export demand.
To complement the self-assessment process, we are also deploying a trial version of our fisher survey in this fishery. This aims to gather independent data from fishers to complement and verify the information submitted in the self-assessment by the fishery. Once the self-assessment is complete, NFS, our Conformity Assessment Body (CAB) partner will evaluate how this fishery measures up to the current Community Catch standard and this will lay the basis for the development of an improvement plan, which we hope to support the fishery to engage in, as it moves towards environmental and social responsibility.
Stay tuned for updates on this trial fishery, and we hope you have enjoyed this mini series!