A NEW pilchard cannery plant has begun operating in Mossel Bay, South Africa, after a shift in stock distribution led to spiralling transport costs for west coast companies.
The new plant is small scale, processing just 10 tonnes of fish per hour, but achieves high yields as fish are pumped direct from boats from the nearby fishing grounds instead of a seven-hour truck journey to west coast canneries.
‘We’re getting between three and five cartons per tonne of fish more than the west coast canneries because we’re working with very fresh fish,’ claims Dewald Lourens, managing director of Afro Fishing.
Since
