In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Commerce
University of the Witwatersrand, October 2017 / Biodiversity is a serious concern for companies using natural resources in their operations and
should be examined closely in order to assess how these companies are reporting their biodiversity
related impacts.
This thesis evaluates the biodiversity disclosures reported by companies in the South African fishing
industry. The integrated and sustainability reports of these companies were examined over a three
year period for the quantity and quality of their biodiversity related disclosures. This involved the
examination of the extent, location, and quality of such disclosures by South African fishing
companies.
The thesis finds that there is a distinct lack of biodiversity-related disclosures in the South African
fishing industry. This thesis highlights the operation of organised hypocrisy in an industry which relies
on the availability of natural resources and the state of biodiversity in order to continue its operations.
It was found that a possible reason for limited biodiversity disclosures by South African fishing
companies was to avoid public scrutiny of their biodiversity impact. The thesis contributes to the
evaluation of a country, and more specifically an industry, that is heavily reliant on the state of
biodiversity. / GR2018
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/24399 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Usher, Kieran Michael |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | Online resource (68 leaves), application/pdf |
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