Environmental Affairs and Tourism on the suspension of the wild abalone
commercial fishing
25 October 2007
"Yesterday's tough decision by Cabinet to support the suspension of wild
abalone (also known as perlemoen) commercial fishing will ensure the survival
of the species and will also ensure that our children and the generations that
follow will know what perlemoen is." These were the words of Marthinus van
Schalkwyk, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, welcoming the Cabinet
decision in this regard.
"To suspend fishing in any fishery is a very difficult decision to take as
we are aware that such a decision will have an impact on the livelihoods of
many people and families in the industry. We are unfortunately at a point where
the commercial harvesting of wild abalone can no longer be justified because
the stock has declined to such an extent that the resource is threatened with
commercial extinction.
"The main causes of the decline in abalone stocks are poaching and the
migration of West Coast Rock Lobster into the abalone areas. Rock Lobsters
consume sea urchins that provide shelter to juvenile abalone. This in turn
subjects the juvenile abalone to increased mortality. Studies further show that
unless decisive and immediate action is taken, the resource will collapse
completely with little prospect of recovery.
"For the past few years the recommendation from our department managers and
researchers has been that the fishery is in crisis and that closure could not
be avoided. We are now at the point where the Total Allowable Catch (TAC)
reached a record low of 125 ton for the 2006/07 season. The only responsible
option left to me as Minister, is to take the unfortunate decision to suspend
fishing in the abalone fishery in terms of Section 16 of the Marine Living
Resources Act," the Minister said.
In the early years, catches of abalone were unregulated and landings
escalated to a high of nearly 3 000 tons in 1965, before declining rapidly to a
point in 1970, when the first commercial quotas within a Total Allowable Catch
(TAC) were introduced. The stabilising effect of a TAC managed fishery was
apparent, with catches remaining relatively constant at 600 t to 700 t per year
between 1970 and 1995.
Over the past ten years, due to declining resources, the TAC has had to be
reduced annually from 615 t in 1995 to a record low of 125 t for the 2006/07
season. In 2004, when determining the total global TAC for abalone, the
Minister said, "I also want, however, today to give notice that if there is not
a drastic decline in poaching I will have to apply my mind at the start of the
next season as to whether it is perhaps time to consider a complete ban on all
perlemoen harvesting for a period of ten years to allow the resource to
recover." In determining the TAC for the previous season the Minister
furthermore announced the reduction of the TAC to zero in three of the seven
zones.
The Minister added that it is also important to reflect that worldwide
abalone fisheries have either closed or are threatened by commercial
extinction, for example the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia and New
Zealand. The North American fisheries have now been closed for more that ten
years. It has been suggested that such fisheries are slow to recover because
closure was delayed.
"There are currently 302 rights holders (262 individual divers and 40 legal
entities in the form of close corporations) operating in the sector with about
800 jobs, including the individual divers. These are the people and families
this decision will impact on the most. We have therefore consulted with the
Department of Labour and jointly developed a Social Plan to mitigate impacts of
suspending Wild Abalone Commercial Fishing. This plan includes our department's
commitment to developing a sustainable aquaculture industry and the issuing of
additional permits for whale watching and shark cage diving," the Minister
concluded.
To ensure that the suspension of harvesting is observed, monitoring and
control on the part of the Department will be up-scaled. Abalone population
dynamics will also be monitored through regular research surveys.
Enquiries:
Mava Scott
Cell: 082 411 9821
Riaan Aucamp
Cell: 083 778 9923
Issued by: Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
25 October 2007
