St Helena : St Helena Fishing News
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Juanita Brock) 25.01.2008 (Article Archived on 15.02.2008)

Argos Atlantic Cold Stores Ltd closed its doors for the 2007 Christmas festive season. No fish was received during this time and some of the local fishing vessels were lifted for maintenance.

St Helena Fishing

Argos Atlantic Cold Stores Ltd closed its doors for the 2007 Christmas festive season. No fish was received during this time and some of the local fishing vessels were lifted for maintenance. During this period, the staff at Argos did general maintenance work, preparing for their annual inspection by the Competent Authority. Argos opened its doors to receive fish on Wednesday 2nd January 2008. Mr Melvin O’Bey is General Manager for Argos Atlantic Cold Stores. Early in January 2008 Radio St Helena spoke with Mr O’Bey and asked him to give an idea of what took place in the fishing industry, as far as Argos is concerned, in 2007. Melvin produced statistics of fish catches. In 2007 between January and December the Cold Store received 401.75 tones of fish.  This was 100 tonnes less than in 2006 and 150 tonnes less than in 2005.

We need to bear in mind however, said Melvin, that during 2004, 2005 and 2006 there was considerable help from fishing offshore. In 2004 Argos received 583 tonnes of fish of which the offshore fishing vessel ‘Portzic’ contributed 15 percent of the total catch. In 2005 when both ‘Portzic’ and ‘Atlantic Rose’ were bringing in fish from the Sea Mounts, 667 tonnes in total were received, of which ‘Atlantic Rose’ contributed 12 percent and ‘Portzic’ 3 percent. In 2006 there were 500 tonnes in total of which ‘Portzic’ brought in 10 percent of the total catch and ‘Atlantic Rose’ unfortunately, because of her unfortunate accident that year contributed only 4 percent.

In each of these years offshore fishing contributed about 15 percent of the total catch. The remaining 85 percent was brought in by the local fleet. Over the last year some local fishing boats did significantly better than others; one boat brought in 84 tonnes of fish.

Between September and December 2007 there was a slack period of fishing. Fishermen targeted grouper as tuna was scarce. Argos accepted more grouper than they really wanted but the grouper did help to make up the 401.75 tonnes total for the year. When compared with other slack fishing years the total catch for 2007 does not look too bad. In 2003 we were in the 300 tonne area and there was a pretty bad year in 2002 when the Cold Store received only 95 tonnes.

“Of course we would like to receive fish every day, because this is what the Cold Store thrives on, but I don’t think there is a need to worry that the fish has ‘gone away’ at this point in time”, said Melvin, who has seen it all before. Melvin can remember that when working for the St Helena Fisheries Corporation Jubilee Cold Store, there were times when there was nothing in the cold room; “We didn’t even have the cold room running, and we didn’t even have the fish chill running.

We were just hoping that one boat would bring something home in the afternoon. There were times when we used to call up Radio St Helena that we had a few fish to sell in a particular area. We couldn’t even cover the whole island. I have actually seen it that bad, so I don’t think we should be too concerned at this point in time.”

Argos exported 262.2 tonnes of fish in 2007, just over half of what was received. The bulk of the export was yellowfin tuna. Tuna loins were produced last year for a new market in Bradford, UK. They will accept all the tuna loins St Helena can produce.

A logistics manager was installed. His main role is to market fish going mainly through the United States, but he was also given the role of marketing fish from St Helena. They are mainly interested in tuna but are prepared to help market products elsewhere and find markets for us. Fish is also exported to Vigo but there is no guarantee that we will get a good price for it. Seeking other markets, a container of fish was sent to China. This was not profitable because of the cost of freighting it there.

Argos Atlantic Cold Stores Ltd has to obtain a licence from the Competent Authority (Public Health) annually for producing fish for the local market and also the export market.  Two licences are actually applied for. The Competent Authority can visit at any time they wish to ensure that all regulations, mostly to do with hygiene, are adhered to. KGT Fish Retailers operates under a licence as well.

To be able to export fish to the European Union (EU) certification by the EU is required and Argos must follow all EU regulations to get an EU number. Also, there has to be an audit track. For example, when a piece of fish turns up on someone’s plate in the UK it should be possible to trace the fish back to the boat that caught it and the time it was received at the Cold Store.

Presently in the St Helena Fishing Industry there are about 10 full time fishing boats operating, Argos have 19 staff and there is also St Helena Fisheries Corporation and KGT Fish Retailers staff; adding up to quite a number of people relying on an income from fishing. Melvin believes that since the loss of the ‘Atlantic Rose’ and more recently the ‘Portzic’ there will probably be a few more dips in fish catches. If the Fishing Industry is to grow it will be necessary for offshore fishing, Melvin said.

The Chief Development Officer confirmed last year that the Offshore Fishing Vessel Project again had to be excluded from the Development Aid Framework agreed during the DAPM visit the previous year. This being the case the Development and Economic Planning Department submitted it to the EU for possible funding.

The EU’s feedback has been encouraging in that they support the objectives of the project in principle, but unfortunately it was too late to attract EDF9 funding as this had been committed. Consequently, it was sent to the section of the EU relating to the funding of research projects and, if it does not meet the criteria for this, will be submitted for Regional Funding from EDF10 unless anything unforeseen arises.

Contributed by Cyril Gunnell

The following comment has been added by the Manager of the Bank of St. Helena:

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