Tuna Marine
Tuna Marine houses the headquarters of Viking Aquaculture. Situated in the heart of Hermanus harbour on the Cape south coast, Tuna Marine provides an ideal environment for the company’s aquaculture professionals to operate their diverse activities and liaise with customers and stakeholders across southern Africa and beyond.
Management
Tim Reddell
Director of Viking Fishing Aquaculture
Tim Reddell is an entrepreneur who has had a long and varied career in the South African fishing industry. A director of Viking Fishing, one of the oldest and most diversified fishing companies in South Africa, Tim has recently turned his attention to aquaculture and plans to grow to 30% the contribution made by aquaculture to Viking Fishing’s total annual production.
For most of his career Tim has worked in South Africa’s deep-sea hake fishery, originally for I&J, one of the two big right-holders in the fishery, and later for the Viking Fishing group of companies which he has helped to grow. An active and vocal advocate for the fishing industry, Tim has served eight terms as chairman of the South African Deep-Sea Trawling Industry Association (SADSTIA) and in 2011 was instrumental in establishing FishSA, an umbrella body that represents 11 fisheries sectors in South Africa.
Ray Henderson
Tuna Marine Facility Manager
Ray Henderson is an aquaculture specialist who is responsible for the management of the Tuna Marine facility.
In his private capacity, he and Nick Loubser run the aquaculture consultancy Sustainable Environmental Aquaculture Services (SEAS) and Ray has played a key role in building and establishing an abalone farm at Kleinzee on the remote Cape west coast. Once it is running at full capacity, the farm will produce 200 tons of abalone per year, on behalf of its owners, mining company, Ponahalo Holdings (the empowerment partners of De Beers Consolidated Mining South Africa). Abalone produced at Kleinzee is transported to Tuna Marine for processing, packaging and shipment.
Ray has a B.SC. Agric in Nature conservation, Genetics and Animal Physiology and a M.Phil Degree, both from Stellenbosch University. He has farmed abalone in South Africa and Chile and, prior to establishing SEAS, played a key role in the establishment and management of a finfish hatchery on the Cape south coast which pioneered the out of season spawning of silver kob (Argyrosomus inodorus) and dusky kob (Argyrosomus japonicus) and the natural spawning of yellowtail (Seriola lalandi).
Nick Loubser
Buffeljags Abalone Farm operations manager
Nick Loubser is operations manager of Buffeljags Abalone Farm and one of South Africa’s most experienced abalone farmers.
For 20 years, Nick worked for I&J, one of South Africa’s biggest seafood producers, helping to grow the company’s abalone farm from start-up to full production. Nick was also instrumental in establishing a finfish hatchery for I&J and piloting the culture of popular South African linefish species, yellowtail and dusky kob, in cages in Port Elizabeth while completing an Environmental Impact Assessment process in Mossel Bay for a potential commercial-scale finfish cage farming operation.
In his private capacity, Nick runs an aquaculture consultancy, Sustainable Environmental Aquaculture Services (SEAS), with his partner, Ray Henderson. He has played a leading role in the design and construction of Buffeljags Abalone Farm and continues to manage its development. He also takes responsibility for the Lüderitz Oyster Farm.
Nick holds a B.Sc. Hons degree from the University of Cape Town and served as chairman of the South African Abalone Farmers’ Association (AFASA) for two years. He has also served on the board of Amanzi Biosecurity – a non-profit company that manages the Health Management Programme of AFASA – the AFASA executive committee, the Western Cape Province’s Special Purpose Vehicle for Aquaculture, and the Mariculture Advisory Forum of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
Anton Schoonees
Financial Manager
Jenny Serfontein
Office manager
Louis Bredell
Grow out manager