The Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Dr Dion George, officially opened South Africa’s first fishing net recycling facility at Collier Jetty at the V&A Waterfront on 10 October.
Minister Dion George delivered the keynote address at the opening event
Minister Dion George points out the special plaque inaugurating the opening of the recycling facility at the V&A Waterfront’s Collier Jetty
Pictured after the ribbon cutting ceremony are André Blaine, V&A Waterfront; Oliver Knudds, Ocean Plastic Technologies; Minister Dion George; Bukiwe Tshetsha-Mndayi, Ocean Plastic Technologies; and Estelle van der Merwe, OCEAN Action Network
Estelle van der Merwe, Managing Director of OCEAN Action Network, addresses the gathering
Minister Dion George received a small statuette made from recycled fishing nets from Bukiwe Tshetsha-Mndayi and Estelle van der Merwe
Oliver Knudds, founder and CEO of Ocean Plastic Technologies, talks about the benefits of recycling plastics on a small scale
Bukiwe Tshetsha-Mndayi, operator of the net recycling pod, talks to guests about the impact of the net recycling facility
Johann Augustyn, Executive Secretary of the South African Deep-Sea Trawling Industry Association (SADSTIA) talks about the fishing industry’s involvement in the net recycling initiative
Innocent Dwayi, Chairman of SADSTIA, Bonga Mavume, Managing Director of Nalitha Fishing Group and Sihle Ngcongo, Managing Director of Imvelo Blue Environment Consultancy
Innocent Dwayi, Chairman of SADSTIA and Belemane Semoli, Chief Director of Aquaculture Development and Inland Fisheries in the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment
Fisokuhle Mbatha, PhD student at the University of Cape Town and Louanne Serfontein, Senior Communications Manager with the Marine Stewardship Council
Ndikhokhele Nombila, Environmental Officer at Sea Harvest’s Viking Fishing Division and Naseema Elias, Group Sustainability Manager at Sea Harvest
Michael Marriott, Programme Director of the Marine Stewardship Council and Andrea Angel, Manager of the Albatross Task Force programme at BirdLife South Africa
Lindi Bissolati-Corker and Chevonne Arendse of the V&A Waterfront and Martine Viljoen of the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation
JP Swart, Production Manager and Mandy Mcguire, Business Development Manager at Southern Ropes attended the launch event
Andrew Gordon, Fisheries Outreach Manager and Louanne Serfontein, Senior Communications Manager at the Marine Stewardship Council
André Blaine, Marine & Industrial Property Executive at the V&A Waterfront, talks about the environmental responsibility programme at the waterfront
Rico Talisic of Stella Maris seafarer’s ministry; Ravi Naicker, Senior Manager of Navigation, Security and Environment at the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA); Feroza Albertus, Control Environmental Officer at the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment and Michael Melato, Environmental Specialist at Transnet National Ports Authority
