South African Deep-Sea Trawling Industry Association

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South African Deep-Sea Trawling Industry Association

SADSTIA is an association of South African trawler owners and operators.

It is a recognised industrial body that interacts with government, non-governmental organisations and other interested parties for the benefit of the South African deep-sea trawling industry. SADSTIA and its affiliates represent all right-holders in the deep-sea trawling industry, accounting for 100% of the hake landed by this fishery. The Association is governed by its members and an executive co

mmittee is responsible for its management. The chairman and/or deputy chairman and an executive secretary take care of the day-to-day management of the association.

28/05/2026

Behind every thriving fishing company is a community.

The Sea Harvest Foundation puts that into practice across three areas: education and youth development, health and wellness, and community and small business development.

For Elodia Alexander, a Sea Harvest employee and single mother, that support meant her son El-Jay could compete in the Wildeklawer Rugby Tournament in Kimberley, one of SA's most prestigious schools rugby festivals.

In 2025, the Foundation also funded a third litter trap at a stormwater outlet in Saldanha, designed by engineering graduate Philani Makhabela, to keep pollutants out of the ocean.

A sustainable fishery is about more than fish.

Read the full 2025 Annual Review ➡️ https://f.mtr.cool/utjdroynzp

26/05/2026

981 fishers. 142 cooperatives. One programme quietly changing how small-scale fishing works in South Africa.

Oceana's "Cooperative Sense" training gives small-scale fishers hands-on knowledge of running a cooperative: business management, food safety, sustainable fishing, safety at sea. It is not charity. It is capacity-building.

In 2025, 100 fishers went through FoodBev SETA training with Oceana, and another 150 completed SAQA-certified courses at NQF Levels 1 and 2.

And it is growing. Oceana and the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment have launched a national mentorship programme, backed by a R4.4 million grant, to support 250 cooperatives.

A sustainable fishery is not just about fish. It is about people.

Read the full 2025 Annual Review ➡️ https://f.mtr.cool/oemfhnrdro

13/05/2026

Using global conservation data, researchers found that agriculture threatens far more species than fishing.

One estimate suggests extinction risk per unit of animal protein is ~2.6× higher for agriculture than for wild-caught fish.

This is not a free pass for harmful fishing. Sustainable limits and strong management are essential.

But it is a reminder that biodiversity outcomes depend on what our food system shifts toward, not only what it shifts away from.

Learn more at https://sadstia.co.za/

Source: Leadbitter et al. (2025) https://doi.org/10.1080/23308249.2025.2585414

12/05/2026

In November 2022, three young engineering cadets started their training with I&J.

This year, all three qualified as marine engineering officers.

Phiwe Jakuja, Siphelo Zwelibanzi and Xola Ndzima spent three years moving between the classroom, the engine room and the open ocean. Academic training, sea-time experience, and final examinations with the South African Maritime Safety Authority. All three passed.

A sustainable fishery needs more than healthy fish stocks. It needs skilled people running the engines, maintaining the vessels, and carrying the technical knowledge forward.

Congratulations to Phiwe, Siphelo and Xola. The fleet is in good hands.

Read more in the 2025 Annual Review ➡️ https://f.mtr.cool/sbosznhjih

05/05/2026

Ever wondered how fishing limits are set?

It is not a guess. It is a formula called an Operational Management Procedure, or OMP, that runs on two main types of data: what vessels report catching at sea, and what independent research surveys confirm about fish populations.

South Africa was ahead of the curve on this. Professor Doug Butterworth at UCT was a pioneer in the development and application of OMPs in fisheries.

The hake OMP is up for revision in 2026. The 2027 catch limit will be the first calculated under the updated version.

Read more in the 2025 Annual Review ➡️ https://f.mtr.cool/vejrlhwkpq

02/05/2026

A reminder that the fishing industry is not just about the men on boats.

Every kilogram of Cape hake that reaches a plate has moved through dozens of pairs of hands. Skippers reading the weather. Crews working the deck. Processors running the factory lines in Saldanha, Cape Town, Mossel Bay and Gqeberha. Shore-based support staff keeping vessels running. Administrators. Scientists and observers measuring every catch at sea. Conservationists and government fisheries managers whose work keeps the stock healthy.

The deep-sea hake trawl industry supports 12 400 jobs across South Africa. Every one of them matters, and we recognize this this Worker’s Day.

To everyone working in this industry: thank you.

30/04/2026

Combined Fishing Enterprises is one of the smallest members of SADSTIA.

In 2014, CFE co-owner Don Lucas went looking for an organisation making a real difference in Cape Town. He found Masicorp in Masiphumelele, visited their programmes and agreed to contribute to a bursary scheme that at the time supported around 50 tertiary students with study materials, transport and mentorship.

When Masicorp wound down the bursary programme in 2018, CFE did not walk away. Support shifted to wherever it was needed most. The preschool feeding scheme. The women's sewing programme. School uniforms.

Emergency funds during the pandemic. Don also connected Masicorp to others in his network. During COVID-19 it was through him that Fish SA donated a pallet of frozen fish when feeding programmes were under real pressure.
More than ten years later, CFE still shows up.

There is no headline in that. No award ceremony. Just a small fishing company and a township NGO building something consistent and real over a decade. That is also what this industry looks like from the inside.

Read more in the 2025 Annual Review at https://f.mtr.cool/ybgnpilpzq

23/04/2026

In 2025, hake catch rates recovered. A fifth re-assessment of the South African trawl fishery for hake by the Marine Stewardship Council began. And the fishing industry raised concerns about missed surveys caused by the breakdown of the research ship Africana.

This is the kind of detail that does not make headlines. But it is exactly what the SADSTIA 2025 Annual Review is there to document. The progress, the challenges, and everything in between.

Read the full review and see what it takes to keep one of the world's most carefully managed fisheries on track.

➡️ https://sadstia.co.za/publications-and-media/annual-reviews/

22/04/2026

In 2025 the South African fishing industry put real money behind the organisation that provides back-up when things go wrong at sea.

The National Sea Rescue Institute operates along South Africa's entire coastline, responding to emergencies and standing ready for seafarers in distress. For an industry whose crews spend weeks at a time offshore, that presence is critical.

In 2025, both the Oceana Group and I&J renewed their platinum memberships of the NSRI and made substantial donations to the organisation. SADSTIA itself contributed R10 000. Together these contributions show the fishing industry putting real money behind the safety net that protects its own people and coastal communities across South Africa.

Beyond emergency response, the NSRI runs a nationwide water safety programme teaching swimming and survival skills to thousands of schoolchildren every year. The fishing industry's support makes that possible too.

Read more in the 2025 Annual Review at https://f.mtr.cool/hsentyponz

📸 Christoff Theunissen via the NSRI Facebook

21/04/2026

South Africa's trawl fishery for hake was the first hake fishery in the world to earn MSC certification back in 2004. It has maintained it ever since.

Every five years the entire fishery goes through a rigorous re-assessment. Independent auditors visit the fishery. They examine the stock assessment science, the impacts of the fishery on the environment and the checks and balances that are put in place by government to manage the fishery. They look for gaps.

In 2025, a new condition was added to the MSC certification. It requires stronger proof that fishing vessels consistently avoid marine protected areas. Not a failure. But a reminder that certification is not a trophy you put on a shelf. It is a standard you have to earn again and again.

The fifth MSC re-assessment is now underway, targeting re-certification in May 2026.

That process is what separates a genuinely sustainable fishery from one that simply calls itself sustainable.

➡️ See what it takes at https://sadstia.co.za/the-msc-certification/

Address

2nd Floor, Harbour Place, Martin Hammerschlag Way
Cape Town

Telephone

+27 (0)21 425 2727

Website

http://sadstia.co.za/

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