South Africa’s High Commission recently visited Bridgwater College, where a delegation, including the South African High Commissioner, His Excellency Mr Obed Mlaba, visited the Fisheries Department.

The group spent the morning discussing the possibility of the two parties establishing and maintaining a framework for cooperation and assistance to support the South African government’s initiative to train and build capacity in the aquaculture and fisheries sectors.

Following presentations and discussion, the delegation were given a tour of the College’s aquaculture facilities including state-of-the-art aquaculture research tank system. The system was funded by Fishmonger’s Company, and is a recently built aquaponics system, which is housed in the Botanical Glasshouse in The Walled Gardens of Cannington.

Marie Lizion, International Business Manager said,

“We were honoured to welcome such a high profile delegation and extend our international activities to South Africa once again.”

Shaun Plenty, Commercial and Research Manager said,

“We are now working very closely with the representatives of the South African government at national and regional levels. We understand that such partnerships may take a while to lead to concrete projects however we believe we have an excellent opportunity to share and demonstrate our competence and facilities in fisheries.”

If you would like more information about Bridgwater College’s International provision, please contact Marie Lizion by email, lizionm@bridgwater.ac.uk, or telephone +44 (0) 1278 441323. For more information about Bridgwater College’s Commercial Fisheries department, please contact Shaun Plenty by email, plentys@bridgwater.ac.uk, or telephone 01278 655236.