In a follow up to this letter to MyPE: Fish Farm off Pollock Beach?, we received notification from Cape Environmental Assessment Practitioners (Cape EAPrac) who were appointed as the independent Environmental Assessment Practitioners by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), to ensure compliance with the regulations contained in the National Environmental Management Amendment Act (NEMA, No 107 of 1998) for the proposed sea based marine aquaculture development zones in Algoa Bay.
As a formally registered stakeholder with Cape EAPrac or an identified key stakeholder / authority, this letter serves to notify you that the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) is available for review and comment for a 40-day period, extending from Wednesday 15th May to Monday 24th June 2013. Comment must be submitted in writing and forwarded to this office via post, fax, email or the online registration form on the Cape EAPrac website on or before Monday 21st May 2012. (Editor’s Notes: We presume that they actually meant 2013!)
This notification also provides notice of a Public Open Day Meeting to be held on Monday 3rd June 2013 at the Algoa Bay Yacht Club in the Port Elizabeth Harbour from 16h00 to 19h30. General information will be available from 16h00 to 17h30 with Presentations from 17h30 – 18h30 and questions afterwards. Please RSVP on or before Thursday 30th May 2013 with the consultant below. Directions to the venue have been attached to this notification.
Copies of the Draft EIR will be available from the following websites, and specified venues: www.cape-eaprac.co.za/active. Humansdorp Public Library, Jeffrey’s Bay Library, Port Elizabeth City Public Library (Govan Mbeki), Algoa Bay Yacht Club and Sundays River Ratepayers Association
In order for comments to be considered, submissions must reach this office no later than 24 June 2013 and must be submitted in writing to the address below:
Melissa Mackay, PO Box 2070, George, 6530. Fax: 044-874 0432. Email: mel@cape-eaprac.co.za
6 sites within Algoa Bay were evaluated and Algoa 1, which lies approximately 2 km off Humewood and Summerstrand was chosedn as the most appropriate. Although there are serious implications for tourism and negative impacts for other users, the consultants believe that more research is required on these negative impacts and the mitigating measures that could be used if a farm is established on this site. This site is right in the middle of the main sailing area for both keel boats and dinghies and will seriously negatively affect sailing in the bay. This fact was pointed out to the consultants.
The Algoa 1 potential fish farming area under investigation – on the sea side of the Bell Buoy, above Despatch Rock and off of Pollock Beach
