Page 155 - Tributaries Catalogue

Water Conflicts in the Bay

Gary followed on from his first presentation on
complexity in Algoa Bay with a second

presentation entitled “Water conflicts in the
Bay” (May 3). “We have a brewing conflict

arising in the Bay again, and I have been
involved from the WESSA side … the basic issue

is “fish farms.” In this so-called aquaculture
development, he explains, commercial cages

are placed into the water and fish are farmed in
them. The idea of the presentation was to
“unpack some of the conflicts behind it.” “The

basic message” he argues, is that on a finite
planet, “there are limits to growth.” “If the

present trends (over-population,

commercialization food production, resource
depletion, reliance on fossil fuels) continue

unchanged, we are 51 years away from
reaching the limits of our planet. That is, we are
close to reaching the tipping points that

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