Annual Review 2000-01: Marine and Coastal Management

Fish stocks have collapsed in many parts of the world. In comparison, South Africa’s fisheries are in relatively good shape. Sustaining our resources for future generations depends on improving compliance and cracking down on illegal coastal developments.

South Africa has a proud record of managing its rich fish resources. With only one or two exceptions, fish stocks have been maintained over decades. Yields of hake, sole, squid, South Coast rock lobster and pelagic fish like pilchards and anchovies, are similar to those 40 years ago.

This is in stark contrast to stocks in many other parts of the world, where a combination of heavy fishing pressure and changing environmental conditions has led to the decline of many important fish species. These have been slow to recover even when fishing is stopped completely.

Improved fishing technology has enabled fishers to find new stocks in the deep water of the open oceans. But because these fish are slow-growing and long-lived, they are already showing signs of being overexploited.

Southern African fish stocks are sought by developed nations whose own fisheries have collapsed, and these nations pressurise South Africa and Namibia to share their well-managed resources.

Our local stocks are already fully exploited, and local fishers take a dim view of foreign operators in our waters. For fishing to be sustainable, DEAT has to set Total Allowable Catches (TACs) on an annual basis, as over-catching would have dire consequences.

SUSTAINING OUR FISHERIES

The Marine Living Resources Act (MLRA) of 1998 gives broad guidelines for sustainable management practices, transformation of the fishing industry and protection of the ecosystem.

The pressure on our fish stocks is immense. This is especially so since efforts are being made to transform the fishing industry to one that better reflects the demographics of our country. Since 1994 thousands of new companies have sought access to fishing rights.

This means there has to be a fine balance between existing rights holders who provide employment, and aspiring new entrants. As the number of small and medium-sized enterprises grows, so do the logistics of compliance and law enforcement.

Today stocks of abalone (perlemoen) and rock lobster (crayfish) are threatened by rampant poaching on a scale unprecedented in the history of our fisheries.

Growing unemployment has lead to increasing pressure on our marine resources, which poses the greatest threat to sustaining South Africa’s fisheries.

DEAT has spent the past year putting in place a better system of adjudicating, managing and controlling the method of rights allocations to fishing applicants. It is also moving from annual to long-term rights.

POLICING OUR SEAS

South Africa is not alone in having problems with policing fishers. Marine resources are over-exploited, illegally caught or under-reported all over the world.

Over the past year, DEAT has succeeded in apprehending a wide variety of local and foreign criminals in the industry.

As the perlemoen resource becomes scarcer, so the criminality has increased. Demand continues to outstrip supply. The past year has been particularly bad for abalone stocks.

Operation Neptune (a collaborative venture between DEAT, SA Police Services and other law enforcement agencies) has arrested increasing numbers of poachers.

In March 2001, the SA Navy and DEAT helped the Australian government apprehend a Togo-registered vessel loaded with illegally caught Patagonian Tooth fish worth over US$1,3 million. This kind of local and international cooperation is key to fighting poaching on the open seas.

STATE OF OUR MARINE RESOURCES

South Africa's commercial fishing industry is worth more than R2,4 billion a year

Hake (or white fish stocks) all over the world are in decline or have crashed. South Africa and Namibia are among the few nations to maintain sustainable reserves of hake. Our Total Allowable Catch (TAC) is increasing slowly, on a scientifically justified basis.

The South African hake trawl industry is well-known, locally and abroad, for its quality, value-added, branded products. In the past year the export price of hake has more than doubled, thanks to its scarcity value and the dollar-rand exchange rate.

About 10% of the hake is caught by handline and longline and is of the highest export quality. Hundreds of tons are flown fresh to Europe on a weekly basis.

But longline fishing targets large, mature females, which has long-term implications for breeding. Another undesirable effect of longlining is the killing of seabirds, which dive onto the baited hooks. Stringent regulations are in force which have the potential for vastly reducing seabird kills.

Abalone (perlemoen) stocks are being decimated as prices rocket due to massive demand from the Far East. There are very few perlemoen left between Hangklip and Hermanus, an area historically rich in the resource.

Sardines and anchovies continue to intrigue scientists. Their numbers vary massively from year to year, and the two species seem to alternate in abundance over long time-scales. A survey in November 2000 indicated a bumper year for anchovy - double the highest previous record of 1,75 million tons measured in 1986. Oddly, sardines also peaked during the same season.

The Agulhas sole resource is small but appears to be stable and the TAC has not changed since the early 1990s.

Commercial fishermen land about 16 500 tons of line fish every year. Of the 40 or so targeted species, at least 18 are now endangered, with adult populations at less than 25% of historical levels.

To rebuild depleted stocks, commercial permits must be dramatically reduced, as must recreational bag limits. DEAT plans to restructure permits so that people who have other incomes will not be allowed to sell line fish.

Affected species include Kabeljou, Dageraad, Slinger, Catface Rockcod, Red Stumpnose, Roman, Seventy-Four, Poenskop, Englishman, White Musselcracker, Geelbek, White Steenbras, Red Steenbras and Galjoen.

DEAT is also planning more marine reserves, which will improve enforcement, and is implementing extensive public awareness campaigns.

The West Coast rock lobsters remain heavily exploited. The bulk of the damage to this stock was caused by large, unsustainable catches between 1900 and 1960. Poaching and slow growth rates are contributing to the long-term decline of the stocks. The South Coast rock lobster continues to decline, partly due to over-fishing by current quota holders.

Squid for bait, and for calamari, is under stress due to the large numbers of fishers. Although small, the fishery is very valuable because almost the whole catch is exported to Italy, where it fetches high prices.

The Coelacanth. In November 2000, a group of recreational divers discovered three living coelacanths at a depth of 107 metres in the St Lucia Marine Protected Area, which forms part of the World Heritage Site.

The find has a number of important implications. This 360-million-year-old species has only been found alive in two other locations, the Comores and Indonesia, at tremendous depths. It is thought that the St Lucia coelacanths could be the most accessible in the world, opening up possibilities of specialised dive tourism and research.

DEAT is drawing up special plans to protect the coelacanths and their habitat.

OUR COAST FOR LIFE

Regulations for prohibiting the recreational use of vehicles on beaches have already been drafted

Blue Flag beaches. South Africa is the first country in the world outside Europe to establish Blue Flag beaches. These are coastal areas guaranteed to have good quality water, no litter, nearby toilets, lifeguards and a healthy marine environment.

So far 14 Blue Flag beaches have been established along the KwaZulu-Natal and Cape coastlines, and are expected to boost tourism.

A survey in the Netherlands recently showed that 55% of the people on a Blue Flag beach chose it because of its special status.Illegal cottages on the Wild Coast. In June 2000, DEAT began a project to halt illegal developments along the Eastern Cape’s Wild Coast. Most of these are holiday homes built in the legal confusion following the 1994 elections. These buildings compromise conservation and tourism development efforts along the coast.

Several arrests have already been made. In many cases these people chose to remove their structures on condition that charges are dropped.

Marine Protected Areas. Fishing, pollution, development and recreation place enormous pressure on the marine environment. To counteract this, DEAT has declared a number of Marine Protected Areas. We are moving forward in achieving a working relationship between the various agencies that manage them.

DEAT has drafted regulations prohibiting the recreational use of vehicles on beaches. These will be published for public comment before final promulgation.

Coastcare and poverty alleviation. Beaches need constant cleaning, not just from the litter that the public leaves behind, but also the flotsam and jetsam that washes up from the ever-increasing quantities of passing boats.

A number of coast-based poverty alleviation projects hire unemployed individuals to clean beaches. They also offer opportunities in subsistence fisheries and tourism. Over the past year, 2 000 people have been employed in these initiatives.

Oil Spill Response. DEAT and the SA Maritime Safety Authority launched a major operation in response to the oil spill disaster in June 2000, caused by the sinking of the iron ore carrier Treasure.

The heavy fuel oil posed a serious risk to Koeberg nuclear power station, Table Bay Harbour (and the V&A Waterfront), Milnerton Lagoon and Peninsula beaches.

The oil threatened the endangered (and endemic) African Penguin colonies at the peak of their breeding season on Robben and Dassen Islands. But Cape Nature Conservation and SANCCOB (an NGO specialising in rehabilitating seabirds) assisted by experts from around the world, rescued some 20 000 oiled birds.

Another 15 000 were transported to Port Elizabeth and allowed to swim back to prevent them becoming oiled. This was the largest, and arguably most successful, seabird rescue operation ever launched in the world.

The oil spill response operation and clean-up cost came to R52 million, the most expensive ever undertaken in South Africa. Most costs were recovered from the insurers.

INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCES

South Africa’s unique location, at the junction of two oceans, as well as its thriving fishing industry, offers much scope for regional and international cooperation.

South East Atlantic Fisheries Organisation. The Convention on the conservation and management of high seas and straddling fishery resources in the southeast Atlantic was finalised in November 2000. This is a joint initiative between Angola, Namibia, South Africa and the United Kingdom, negotiated with 12 other fishing countries (including Japan, the USA and the European Union).

Albatross Agreement. Longline fishing is tremendously harmful to some seabirds, notably petrels and albatrosses, which dive for the bait on the hooks, and are then caught and drowned. During February 2001, South Africa hosted a second meeting to discuss an agreement for the conservation of southern Albatross and Petrels. The text of this agreement was finalised and will be open for signature in mid-2001.

BENEFIT. South Africa, Namibia and Angola have, since 1997, been cooperating successfully under the Benguela Environment Fisheries Interaction and Training (BENEFIT) programme. Several joint projects are well under way, including the training of fisheries scientists and technical staff, environmental research, and resource studies.

BENEFIT has received generous donations from Norway and Germany for resources and environmental research respectively. France and the UK have also offered contributions for regional database development and resource-environmental linkages.

The seas off Gansbaai are full of Great White Sharks, a protected species in South Africa. It is arguably the best place in the world to see these magnificent predators

International Whaling Commission (IWC). South Africa was one of the 15 founder nations to establish the IWC in 1946. In 1975, we ended 184 years of virtually uninterrupted whaling on our coast.

The Southern Right whale is now firmly on the road to recovery from very low levels to an annual growth rate of around 7% for the past two decades. The population is doubling every 10 years.

A tightly-controlled boat-based whale-watching industry has developed locally, and is generating substantial revenue.

MANAGING OUR VESSELS

In April 2000, DEAT officially transferred the manning, management and maintenance of its research, patrol and supply vessels to Smit Pentow Marine of Cape Town. The contract has been awarded for five years. There is already a marked increase in vessel use.

DID YOU KNOW?

The skiboat was invented in South Africa in the 1940s.
South Africa fishes 6 000 tons of squid a year, and exports almost all of it to Europe. Its flesh is pale greyish-brown, and has a strong fish taste. The calamari we eat is imported from Falklands. In the world market, it's considered the lowest grade of squid - white-fleshed, tough and bland.
South Africa's commercial fishing industry is worth well over R2,4 billion a year, providing over 25 000 direct jobs, and about 60 000 indirect and casual jobs.
There are another 750 000 recreational fishers.
Our whale-watching industry is now estimated to be worth over R490 million a year.
Every time a whale jumps out of the water (breaches) it uses up the same amount of energy a human does in two days.
About 35% of South Africa's GDP is generated by coastal activities.
During Chinese mass wedding times, the price of perlemoen doubles.
Spain is notorious for its part in the collapsing fisheries off Argentina, and more recently, Morocco.