SANCCOB
The Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment has imposed an interim 10-year fishing limitation in waters around penguin colonies, including two sites in the Eastern Cape.
Minister, Barbara Creecy, made the announcement on Friday, after receiving a report from an expert panel review into the decline of African penguin colonies around the coastline.
She said the fishing limitation imposed would be reviewed after six years of implementation and data collection.
Minister Creecy said the number of African penguin breeding pairs had declined from around 10 million to just over 10 000 over the last century.
She said the species is endemic to South Africa and Namibia and in the Eastern Cape, and also found at St Croix and Bird Islands off Gqeberha.
The Minister said competition for food is thought to be among a set of pressures that are contributing to the decline of the African penguin population.
"Other pressures include ship traffic, together with their associated noise and vibrations, pollution and degradation of suitable nesting habitats."
Minister Creecy said the transition to implementing fishing limitations will continue with the current interim closures, while both the fishing industry and the conservation sector study the Panel's Report.
"If there is agreement on fishing limitations over the next few weeks or months across these sectors, these will be implemented as they are agreed upon."
"If no alternate fishing limitation proposals are concluded by the start of the 2024 Small Pelagic Fishing Season (January 15th, 2024) the current interim fishing limitations will continue until the end of the 2033 Fishing Season, with a review in 2030 after six years of implementation from the start of the 2024 fishing season," Creecy said.
She appointed an Expert Review Panel in December last year, to assess the science related to managing the interactions between the small pelagic (anchovy and sardines) fishery and the conservation of African penguins.
