IF there were a “G10” of global fishing nations, South Africa would qualify, says Felix Ratheb, CEO of Sea Harvest. He points to the prominent role South Africans now play in influential seafood and sustainability bodies – influence he believes far outweighs the size of the local industry. Yet he warns that misaligned domestic policy could undermine one of the country’s most successful export sectors.
Ratheb chairs the Groundfish Forum, a global network of more than 300 senior seafood executives. Alongside other South African leaders serving in senior roles within the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and global harvest councils, he says the country is helping shape fisheries governance and sustainability standards worldwide.
“From a global perspective, we are everywhere,” Ratheb says.
That global footprint has been critical for South Africa’s hake industry, particularly in maintaining MSC certification, which has secured access to demanding European markets. What was once a “nice to have”, he says, has become “a licence to operate”.
Ratheb argues that fisheries globally suffer from fragmented representation, making it easy to conflate well-managed fisheries with poorly regulated ones.
He is unequivocal that sustainability is non-negotiable: “Without sustainable resources, there can be no fishing businesses.”
He contends that responsibly managed marine fisheries produce animal protein with a comparatively low environmental footprint. Research published in Reviews in Fisheries Science & Aquaculture estimates that replacing marine fisheries’ animal protein with cattle and chicken would require about five million square kilometres of agricultural land.
The study also found terrestrial and freshwater species are more likely to be threatened with extinction than marine species, partly because agriculture transforms complex ecosystems into simplified systems, whereas well-managed fisheries operate within natural ecosystem structures.
For Ratheb, the priority is expanding sustainability across the sector. While he strongly supports the MSC, he cautions against raising certification standards to the point where only a small minority of fisheries can comply.
“Do you want five percent that are the best on the planet and spend a fortune complying, or do you bring more fisheries into the programme so you end up with more sustainable resources overall?” he asks.
A sweet spot for South African hake
Domestically, Ratheb says the hake fishery is in one of the strongest positions in its 125-year history, driven largely by shifts in global whitefish markets. Hake competes with cod and haddock in Europe, but major quota cuts have reduced global cod catches by around 50% over the past two years. EU sanctions on Russian Pacific cod have further tightened supply.
The resulting shortage of wild-caught whitefish has driven sustained price growth, with South African producers seeing foreign-currency increases of more than 10% for two consecutive years. Limited exposure to the United States has insulated the industry from recent trade volatility, allowing volumes to be redirected into Europe and other high-demand markets.
Although catch rates declined unexpectedly over the past three years, scientific surveys showed the resource remained healthy. In 2025, catch rates rebounded by around 40%, confirming stock resilience.
The sector supports thousands of jobs, with most beneficiation taking place locally rather than offshore. Hake fillets and value-added products are produced on factory vessels and in shore-based plants, including facilities in rural areas where employment opportunities are scarce.
Yet Ratheb believes domestic policy risks undermining this momentum. The current 15-year fishing rights period, he argues, is misaligned with the scale of capital investment required. The average age of the trawl fleet is approaching 40 years, and replacing vessels can cost hundreds of millions of rand.
“People are not going to invest at that scale if they don’t have security of tenure,” he says.
The industry will argue in the upcoming review of the Marine Living Resources Act that rights allocations should be extended closer to 30 years to support long-term investment, employment and sustainability.
As South Africa enters the 2026 fishing year, Ratheb sees a stark contrast: globally, the country is helping shape the future of sustainable fishing; locally, policy uncertainty risks constraining a transformed, capital-intensive and globally competitive industry.
The risk, he says, is not collapse but missed opportunity. With strong markets, recovering stocks and deep local beneficiation, the hake fishery is well positioned for long-term returns – if domestic policy aligns with the long-term thinking South Africa promotes abroad.
