In 1990, a very experienced skipper, named Ricky Donaggi, managed to get a foothold in the exclusive industry of Pelagic fishing – based on the legal advice that the fish caught by a fisherman belong to the fisherman until it is sold. Ricky was instrumental in the forming of a Co-operative, which applied for a quota, whereafter a Bank agreed to help finance a boat and the Weskus Vissers Koöperasie became a legal and committed player in the Pelagic Industry on the West Coast of South Africa.
Ricky’s Vision
Twenty years earlier, in 1970, Ricky Donaggi started to explore a solution to the realities that pelagic fishers had no personal accident fund, pension fund, medical or death coverage.
He took the challenge to John Wiley, the then Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs and Fisheries, who suggested that they organise an association for Pelagic Fishers to assist them with the above requirements. This was a complex challenge as it needed funds and capital in an industry that had a long record of neglecting the fishing crews on the boats.
So, in the mid-eighties, Ricky and John Wiley came up with a solution: The funds to protect the fishers and their communities had to come out of the sea.
In line with this plan, The Co-operative was eventually created and awarded a quota and as a legal Rights Owner, they were allowed to enlist the efforts of other boat owners to harvest their quota on their behalf. Through this mechanism, the Pension Fund associated with the Co-operative now had a source of income to pay its benefits to retired pelagic fishers – from the proceeds of the catch.
Mr J.G. (“Hasie”) Terblanche
Hasie Terblanche was with the Co-op from its inception, until his death in 2020, as Secretary of the Co-op and later as Public Officer of the pension fund.
