This is how invasive carp betters food security

Clearing a Garden Route lake of an invasive carp was a good idea. Providing fish to feed nearby disadvantaged communities was a great idea. Now, a trailer-mounted freezer will exponentially increase its impact.

During the first Covid lockdown in April 2020, an innovative collaboration began between the Gift of the Givers, Cape Nature and Invasive Fish Species Management.

It addressed the problem of invasive carp fish that had long plagued Garden Route fresh-water lakes. It also tackled another problem that the Covid pandemic exacerbated amongst disadvantaged communities in the area: hunger.

The project began at Groenvlei Lake near Sedgefield. There is an estimated 180 tonnes of invasive carp there and growing.

It was a success! Gradually, the project restored the ecological balance in the lake. The carp was gifted to soup kitchens, feeding schemes and disadvantaged families in the area.

The impact is significant. Each catch feeds a minimum of 400 and an average of 800 people per day. To date, the project has provided over 110 000 meals.

Carp fishing just got bigger and better

Naturally, the partners wanted to expand the project. Rejuvenating all three lakes in the Sedgefield area and feeding more communities. But, as is so often the case, between good and brilliant ideas, there was a catch.

The Department of Health says that table-fresh fish needs to be stored between 1^oC and 9^oC. Although the project acquired two chest freezers, the temperature regulation limited the number of fish that could be stored. Importantly, it couldn’t be transported far enough before the temperature exceeded the limit.

That’s when Gift of the Givers approached Ali Sayed, an Oceana social impact officer, who was doing training for small-scale fishers along the Garden Route.

“A trailer-mounted freezer would allow us to transport more fish, further, more often substantially expanding the extent, reach and benefits of the project. Oceana was the obvious partner, it’s committed to food security, is active in the region and knows a bit about the logistics of getting fish to consumers,” explains Gift of the Givers founder Dr Imtiaz Sooliman.

Nothing fishy about these partnerships

Zodwa Velleman, who heads Corporate and Regulatory Affairs at Oceana, says the decision was an easy one, “our brand promise is to positively impact lives and food security is integral to what we do as a business and our social investment partnerships, through which we provide some 4,45 million meals annually. We always like our involvement to have a multiplier effect on the work our partners do and providing a mobile freezer for this project certainly achieves that.

“If you’re travelling along a Garden-Route road and you come across a fridge-freezer being towed behind a Gift of the Givers bakkie, consider it a testament to an effective collaboration between government, an NGO and a JSE-listed company, but perhaps more importantly, how a good idea became a brilliant idea.”

Sourced: Meropa Communications, William Smook