The Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Willie Aucamp, has welcomed the more than R170 million investment by the African Pioneer Group for the Sandy Point Harbour fishmeal plant, located at St Helena Bay, in the Western Cape.
The plant produces a range of fish products for local and export markets.
"This facility is so much more than an expansion of processing capacity. It is a strategic intervention in the small pelagic value chain that strengthens domestic beneficiation, enhances operational efficiency, and positions South Africa to extract greater economic value from each tonne of fish harvested.
"It strengthens local opportunities without increasing pressure on the resource base. It is a symbol of investment in people, in communities, and in the future of South Africa's fishing industry, and a bold step towards advancing the objectives of South Africa's Oceans Economy Master Plan and our broader industrial policy framework," the Minister said on Thursday.
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Addressing the inauguration of the fishmeal plant, Aucamp hailed the investment as it speaks directly to South Africa's commitment to industrialisation, localisation, job creation and the sustainable utilisation of our marine living resources.
"The more than R170 million investment represented by this facility contributes directly to sustainable industrial growth in a priority coastal node.
"This is the practical expression of the partnership we seek to build between government, science and the fishing industry. A partnership that recognises ecological limits, respects the rule of law, and unlocks inclusive economic opportunity," he said.
The small pelagic sector remains a pillar of coastal employment, food security, animal feed supply chains and export earnings particularly for the West Coast.
"It is also a sector that is inherently sensitive to environmental variability and climate-driven regime shifts.
"Recent scientific assessments have confirmed significant fluctuations in biomass and recruitment, most notably the record-low anchovy recruitment observed in 2025 and the persistently low, though cautiously improving, sardine population levels," the Minister said.
In recent years, the scientific advice has highlighted the importance of diversifying fishing effort towards more abundant stocks, particularly round herring, whose biomass has shown strong performance.
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"This species now plays a critical buffering role in maintaining throughput in the pelagic sector during periods when sardine and anchovy are constrained. Investments such as this fishmeal plant therefore directly support resilience in the sector by enabling efficient processing of a broader species mix, reducing waste, improving turnaround times, and stabilising supply to downstream industries," the Minister said.
