90 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



Vol. 28, No. 7 



South Africa (Contd.): 



catch quota for 1966. The 8 plants in South- 

 West Africa were granted a quota of 90,000 

 tons each, or a total of 720,000 tons for 1966. 

 The hoped-for increase was 10,000 tons for 

 each plant which would bring the total to 

 900,000 tons. It was reported that the Peru- 

 vian fish meal industry would produce stick- 

 water concentrate in 1966 to partially offset 

 an expected drop in meal production because 

 of a catch quota of 7,000,000 tons of anchoveta 

 imposed by the Government of Peru.i./ 



Because of the poor catch for the first part 

 of the season by the South African industry, 

 the Walvis Bay pilchard industry of South- 

 west Africa was concentrating on the manu- 

 facture of fish meal to meet the heavy com- 

 mitments for this year. The entire fish oil 

 production for the season has already been 

 sold in advance at a good price to the United 

 Kingdom. 



The canning prospects in South -West Afri- 

 ca for this year also look bright. Traditional 

 markets have placed firm orders while the 

 local market in South and South -West Africa 

 has shown a marked increase. It is estimated 

 that the local market will take about 1,750,000 

 cases of canned fish this year as compared 

 with barely 500,000 cases five years ago. 



The average oil yield during the third week of 

 February was about nine gallons per ton of fish 

 at Walvis Bay. The fish were being caught fair- 

 ly far out--from9 to 10 hours steaming from 

 the factories. (South African Shipping News 

 and Fishing Industry Review , March 1966.) 



l/See "Peru, " 



=5^ 



South Africa Republic 



CONSERVATION MEASURES PROPOSED 



FOR TRAWLING OFF COAST: _^^_ 



Japanese fishing industry circles welcomed 

 a recent proposal by a West German fishing 

 company for holding an international confer- 

 ence to conclude an intergovernmental or pri- 

 vate agreement to regulate trawling activities 

 off South Africa. The proposal was made dur- 

 ing a visit in Japan in May 1966, by the pres- 

 ident of a large German fishing company who 

 is also the president of the West German fish- 

 ery association. It was reported that the pro- 

 posal is unofficially supported by the Govern- 

 ment of West Germany. 



The conservation measure would apply to 

 the taking of porgies or sea breams ( Ptero - 

 gymnus laniarus ) and cape hake or stockfish 

 ( Merluccius sp.) and would provide for a cod- 

 end mesh of 160 millimeters (about 6.3 inches) 

 as compared with 90 millimeters (about 3.5 

 inches), the mesh size of trawls now used by 

 Japanese vessels fishing in the area. It was 

 said that at present the internationally ac- 

 cepted size of trawl cod ends is 110 milli- 

 meters (about 4.5 inches) as provided for in 

 the regulations set up under the International 

 Convention for the Northwest Atlantic Fish- 

 eries. 



Japanese fishery circles believe the pro- 

 posal is a timely one because it will forestall 

 moves by African coastal nations to set up 

 exclusive fishing zones beyond their coastal 

 waters. Such a step was considered desirable 

 also in view of increasing international com- 

 petition for fish in the waters off the coast of 

 South Africa. It was reported that trawlers 

 from Great Britain, Japan, Wtst Germany, 

 South Africa, and the U.S.S.R. are already fish- 

 ing in the area and that vessels from other 

 nations now fishing farther north in the east- 

 ern Atlantic would eventually move to the area. 

 (The Japan Economic Journal, May 24, 1966.) 



***** 



WHALING REGULATIONS 

 FOR 1966 ISSUED: 



On April 29, 1966, the Government of South 

 Africa issued regulations setting the maxi- 

 mum number of whales which may be taken 

 during the 1966 season by land stations lo- 

 cated on the Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean 

 coasts as follows : 



Indian Ocean ( Durban ): baleen whales 236.8 

 blue-whale units; sperm whales 2,847 whales. 



Atlantic Ocean ( Saldanha Bay ): baleen 

 whales 162.7 blue-whale units; sperm whales 

 798 whales. 



For the purposes of this regulation the 

 blue-whale unit equivalents were set at: 1 blue 

 whale unit is equal to 2 fin whales or 6 sei 

 whales. On February 4, 1966, the Government 

 issued a regulation setting the 1966 whaling 

 season for land-based stations as follows: 



Indian Ocean : baleen whales, April 1 through 

 September 30; sperm whales, February 1 

 through September 30. 



