Rock Lobster at Risk?

[Toko]

http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/ ... sh-2013231

Poachers gets 12 months for taking 21 crayfish
NEWS/CRIME-COURTS /
22 April 2016 at 11:12am
By: Kamcilla Pillay
Durban - A poacher received a 12-month sentence from a KZN court after he was found with 21 crayfish - 13 more than the legal limit.

Mbongiseni Dube, 58, of Groutville, received the hefty sentence - or a R12 000 fine - in the Stanger Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday for contravening the Marine Living Resources Act.

Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife said in terms of the act, a permit was required when fishing for the crayfish.

“There is a bag limit of eight per person per day, of which all of the animals in your possession must be of a minimum legal size limit of 65mm. No one may fish for east coast rock lobster during the closed season (November 1 to the last day in February).”

These lobsters cannot be sold and fishermen are not allowed to stockpile them. They are allowed to have only eight in their possession at any given time.

Ezemvelo found Dube in possession of 21 east coast rock lobster (crayfish) on the beach at Chaka’s Rock on May 4 last year. He was arrested and charged by their officers for exceeding his daily bag limit of crayfish by 13 and also for possession of one undersized crayfish.

Dube, they said, was a well-known crayfish poacher in the Ballito area and had been apprehended and charged by their officers on numerous occasions.

At the court proceedings, staff, including senior marine scientist Tembisa Jordaan, gave extensive evidence in aggravation of sentence pointing out the ecological rationale regarding bag limits, size limits and closed seasons associated with crayfish.

A well-placed source told The Mercury there were more than 50 prosecutions every year in such cases.

“This is only on the Richards Bay side, not even north of that. These are just the ones who get caught; if you look at the ones that get away, that’s a different kettle of fish.”

He said poachers had, for at least 15 years, been selling crayfish on the South Coast. The delicacy is typically sold for between R60 and R80.

“The authorities chase them away on a daily basis, but they always return.”

The problem was exacerbated by poachers from “all walks of life”.

“You have wealthy divers, some of whom own their own ski boats, doing this. You also have the indigent men and women who are selling the crayfish (and other sea life) to eat,” he said.

Restaurants, he said, were also “huge culprits”.

“Many buy from non-official sources, fuelling the demand for the crayfish, and other species such as rock cod.”

The Mercury

[Puff Addy]

it will send out a strong message to poachers that they will be punished if they break the law

That was from the first post in this thread in 2013. I guess the message hasn't gotten to them yet...

[Flutterby]

Seems like it Puff!

[Lisbeth]

The poaching is an enormous problem in SA

Sentences like the above might help.....maybe, but the fine should not be "or" but "and"!

The SA coastline is at high risk

[Lisbeth]

Situation Red Alert issued to recover live rock lobster after mass red tide walkout


Lobster at Elands Bay on the West Coast. Photo: Supplied

By Ethan van Diemen | 04 Mar 2022

Following an algal bloom – commonly known as a red tide – on the West Coast of the Western Cape, an estimated 500 tons of rock lobsters walked out of the sea this week.
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The shores of Elands Bay on the West Coast were covered with thousands of crayfish this week after a massive algal bloom – more commonly known as a “red tide” – forced a massive walkout of the critters.

A joint operation has been launched to help rescue the surviving crayfish and get them back out to sea.

A statement released by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) estimated that some 500 tons of the crustaceans filled the beaches. While the sight of thousands of crayfish may seem exceptional, the cause of the walkout is anything but.



“Red tides are a natural phenomenon in coastal waters, caused by a dense accumulation of microscopic algae. Some of the algal species are harmful because they contain toxins, which are poisonous to humans,” said the department.

“Poisoning may either take place through the consumption of seafood that is contaminated by toxic algae, or by toxic aerosols or water-bound compounds that cause respiratory and skin irritation. Other red tides cause harm through the depletion of oxygen [anoxia], which affects all marine creatures and can lead to mass mortalities of the entire marine communities or mass walkouts of rock lobsters that try to escape the anoxic conditions.

Cape rock lobster have walked out of the ocean along the West Coast due to the red tide. The department has activated the West Coast Rock Lobster Contingency Plan and issued a Situation Red Alert, placing all government role-players, in the sector, on standby. #RedtideElandsBay Photo: Enviromentza

“As it is often the case in summer and late summer, there has been a build-up of large red tides in the greater St Helena Bay region over the past few weeks. These blooms of phytoplankton presently extend 50-60 kilometres, dominating waters in the vicinity of Elands Bay, Lambert’s Bay, and Doring Bay.”



In response to the situation, the DFFE activated the West Coast Rock Lobster Contingency Plan and issued a Situation Red Alert. Working with the West Coast District Municipality, Cederberg Municipality, the police, defence force, provincial authorities and local communities, the department has been assisting with clean-up operations and the recovery of live rock lobster, washed up due to the red tide.

“All recovered live lobster will be rehabilitated and will be safely returned to sea once the red tide threat has abated,” the department said.

In a series of posts on Facebook, local fishermen can be seen throwing what would potentially be a great haul back into the icy depths.



This is not the first time a mass walkout has occurred in the area. In 1997 and 2000, hundreds of tonnes of the crayfish were stranded on the Elands Bay shore.

The DFFE has cautioned members of the public not to collect and consume any decayed fish and shellfish washed ashore as a result of the red tide as this could pose a serious health hazard. OBP/DM

Additional edits were made to this article following initial publication.

[Richprins]

[Lisbeth]

Abalone and rock lobster stocks are under severe threat — here’s how to preserve them


The implementation of a coherent small-scale fisheries policy is an essential part of stopping illegal fishing, says the author. (Archive photo: Ashraf Hendricks)

By Kevern Cochrane | 04 May 2022

South Africa needs more inspectors, and we need the urgent implementation of the small-scale fisheries policy.
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To stop illegal fishing from destroying South Africa’s marine resources, we need a two-pronged approach: better policing of illegal fishing, and the implementation of a coherent small-scale fisheries policy.

Illegal fishing has been a major threat to some of South Africa’s most important marine fisheries for decades. The abalone fishery earned up to R100-million a year at the start of this century, but rampant illegal fishing, starting in the 1990s, has now depleted abalone to the point at which sustainable catches are a fraction of what they were 20 years ago.

West Coast rock lobster is suffering a similar fate. Since the late 1990s, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment has been attempting to encourage recovery of the lobster resource while still allowing some fishing. However, increasing levels of illegal fishing, estimated to be similar to the legal catches, have played a large part in thwarting these efforts.

Despite reductions in the total allowable catch, from over 3,000 tonnes in 2005-2006 to 700 tonnes in 2021-22, the lobster resource remains heavily depleted.

Shamera Daniels, chairperson of the West Coast Rock Lobster Association, says illegal fishing is a huge concern for those dependent on the fishery. Unless something drastic is done urgently, a further reduction in the total allowable catch for the forthcoming 2022-2023 season seems inevitable, with disastrous consequences for thousands of coastal families.

Abalone and West Coast rock lobster are both found close inshore and are therefore easily accessible, and both fetch high prices, especially on the international market. Poachers are reported to get paid as much as R1,000 a kilogram for abalone and R150 a kilogram for lobster.

Illegal fishing for lobster can be divided into two categories. The first is opportunistic poaching for local consumption, to put some food on the table or to bring in a small amount of money. This is typically associated with frustrations over slow progress in implementing the small scale fisheries policy and other governance failures and has been labelled “protest” poaching. The second category, of much greater concern, is the well-organised, professional poaching through transnational crime.

Different approaches are needed to tackle these two categories but in both cases, and in all the country’s fisheries, thorough and reliable monitoring and recording at all harbours and landing sites of the amounts of each species caught, and by whom, is essential. The information is needed to ensure that fishers remain within their legal allowances and for feedback into the scientific assessments of the status of the fish stocks and future recommendations on allowable catches.

In South Africa, Fisheries Control Inspectors and Marine Resource Monitors should be at the forefront of this. But it is well recognised, not least by officials in the Department, that declining capacity is a major obstacle, made worse by corruption in some cases. In an affidavit submitted by WWF to the Western Cape high court in 2018 challenging the declared total allowable catch for West Coast rock lobster, then Chief Director of Monitoring, Control and Surveillance in the Department was reported as expressing concern about a significant reduction in the number of personnel engaged in these functions over the previous five years.

The consequences of insufficient enforcement capacity in the abalone and West Coast rock lobster fisheries are clear and alarming, and the problem is not limited to them. For example, since 2018, the Department has been unable to oversee and monitor all landings in the anchovy and sardine fishery, the country’s second most valuable, due to the limited availability of inspectors and monitors. It has, instead, had to rely on the industry itself to record and report its own catches.

Fortunately, the consequences appear to be mild in this case and Johan de Goede, the assistant director of Small Pelagic Fisheries Management, says the Department makes spot checks of landings and the industry has been fulfilling its role responsibly. Nevertheless, the limited official capacity is a concern and a loophole for a minority who may have less responsible objectives.

Given the serious financial and capacity constraints of government, what realistically can be done to save our more vulnerable fisheries? As a start, there is no getting around the fact that the numbers of inspectors and compliance officers on the ground, government-contracted monitors at landing sites, factories and export points, as well as observers at sea must be increased.

Compliance with regulations can be enforced but it can also be voluntary, and the anchovy and sardine fishery demonstrates another important step in ensuring high compliance. Where fishers have secure rights and are well-coordinated, they have a collective, vested interest in the long-term sustainability of the fishery and incentives to partner with the authorities to further this.

That points to the urgency of completing implementation of the small-scale fisheries policy. Giving legitimate fishers secure and financially viable long-term rights in the West Coast rock lobster fishery and in fishing for other species in a “basket of resources”, would go a long way to addressing “protest poachers” by giving the fishers an incentive to ensure a sustainable fishery and help rebuild the resource. For this to happen, the small-scale fishers, who have many shared goals, also need to work together as a well-coordinated group.

For the organised criminal elements, the benefits of poaching come from the high export prices and they rely on being able to introduce their illegally caught products into the regular value chain, which is vulnerable to this at all stages. Both Daniels and a government official I spoke to were clear on the need for reliable traceability measures using digital technology to track lobster from the landing sites to the factories and the ports of exit to prevent illegal catches from creeping into the chain.

The West Coast Rock Lobster Association is in the process of launching a Traceability Project aimed at securing the value chain and the Department needs to be a key partner, which also requires more enforcement officials operating across the value chain.

The urgent need for effective enforcement in South Africa’s fisheries and the means to achieve it are clear to all. The big question is whether government and the Department will keep repeated promises to bring illegal fishing under control, starting with the rampant poaching of rock lobster. If they don’t, and the anticipated further reductions in the total allowable catch for this fishery have to be implemented at the end of this year, the consequences will be catastrophic and the outcry from those affected is likely to reflect that. DM

Cochrane is professor in the Department of Ichthyology and Fisheries Science at Rhodes University.

First published by GroundUp.