Small-scale fishers and members of the community are gearing up for public hearings taking place this week to raise their concerns about a proposed 3D seismic survey off the South East coast of South Africa
The public hearings will take place from Monday to Thursday this week in St Francis Bay, Jeffreys Bay and in Gqeberha.
CGG Services SAS has applied to the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy for Environmental Authorisation to undertake a speculative 3D seismic survey in the Algoa/Outeniqua Basin.
The proposed survey would cover an area of up to 9 000 square kilometres roughly between Gqeberha in the East and approximately 120 km southeast of Plettenberg Bay.
According to The Green Connection, seismic surveys will cause direct and indirect physical harm to individual species and marine ecosystems.
It further states that a key concern is a potential impact on catch rates and the knock-on effect such impacts would have on small-scale fishers and communities that rely on fishing for their livelihoods and culture.
Details for the 3 public meetings are as follows:
Monday, 17 April
St Francis Bay
Sea Vista Community Hall Geelbek Street
18h00
Tuesday, 18 April
Jeffreys Bay
Pellsrus Hall 1 Harder Street
18h00
Thursday, 20 April
Gqeberha
ETC Conference Centre Spondo Street,Struandale
17h00
