South Africa’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies, has handed over six fishing boats to the Houtbay Fishing Co-operatives at the Imizamo Yethu settlement in Cape Town.
The project is intended to broaden the participation of small scale fishing communities to higher commercial value activities in the fisheries value chain.
It is expected that the boats will create employment opportunities for local people.
The Department of Trade and Industry has been involved in the support of the Fishing Cluster Project in the West Coast region and has supported the initiative to the tune of more than R11 million.
The Houtbay Fishing Cooperatives has also benefited from this amount.
“The main goal of the Fishing Cluster Project in the West Coast region is to create a viable and sustainable fisheries industry by putting in place a comprehensive package of support measures in order to create jobs and income generating opportunities,” said department spokesperson Sidwell Medupe.
2012 SAnews.gov.za