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| Fishery Project at Hartbeespoort Dam |
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The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry’s Water Resource Manager at Hartbeespoort has expressed his excitement over the start up of the fishery project which is part of the Hartbeespoort Dam Remediation Programme
According to Mr Petrus Venter the first harvesting of the undesirable fish started on Tuesday, 15 January 2008, and the task manager for the fishery project, Professor Gert Steyn, says he is satisfied with the progress made thus far.
Mr Venter says a crucial element of the programme is to restore the nutrient balance in the dam. The food web plays an important role in this and can only be achieved if the trophic status in Hartbeespoort Dam has been restored. At present the dam is dominated by the coarse species, namely Catfish, Carp and Canary Kurper.
Mr Venter explained that the sun, which is an important source of energy, stimulates the nutrients in the water and causes the algae and hyacinths to grow. As they die, some of them sink and the bottom feeders, namely the Catfish and the Carp, feed on the dead material in the sediment. The result of their actions stirs up the sediment which causes the cycle of nutrient enrichment to repeat itself. “This shows that through the removal of the Catfish and Carp the food web can be restored”, he said.
The fishery is a commercial entity that will harvest the dam of the undesirable species by utilising various techniques. Harvesting activity on the water will generally be taking place in the evenings. The nets and lines will be left in the water overnight and extracted in the early mornings on a daily basis. This will restore the desired trophic fish structure and contribute towards establishing an integrated aquaculture hub in the province. The removed fish will be sold as a high source of protein. This project will rely heavily on research and monitoring to ensure that the desired effect is obtained. Mr Venter said “the fishery’s task will create significant job opportunities, especially for unemployed local residents which is an important part of this project.”
The remediation programme has been making steady progress. The rainy weather lately has contributed towards there being fewer visible algae on the dam as the sun, which draws the algae to the top of the water’s surface was mostly absent. In the meantime however the controlling and removal of algae are continuing and much success has been achieved by the placement of the first boom on the dam close to the dam wall. The project is now ready to install the next two booms. These will be placed at the railway bridge at Oberon and at the bridge at Lakeland.
The public using the dam for recreation activities are requested to be on the look out for activities and specially coloured markers on the surface related to the remediation programme and are requested to avoid such areas.
| Press Release Ivora Properties, 22-01-2008 |
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