The Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Ms Barbara Creecy, will release the Expert Review Panel report on fishing closures and limitations around key penguin colonies on Friday, 4 August 2023.
The Expert Review Panel was set up by the Minister Creecy in December 2022 to review all related science output over the last few years. This experiment sought to understand what, if any, benefits are derived from limiting fishing adjacent to penguin colonies. Competition for food is thought to be one among a set of pressures that are contributing to the decline of the African Penguin population.
The panel, which undertook the assessment from end of December 2022 and submitted its report in July 2023, is chaired by Professor Andre Punt (USA), with members Dr Ana Parma (Argentina), Dr Eva Plaganyi (Australia), Professor Philip Trathan (UK), Professor Robert Furness (UK) and Professor James Sanchirico (USA).
Members of the media are invited to attend the virtual briefing as follows:
Date: 4 August 2023
Time: 10h00
Link: https://shorturl.at/ePRY2
To RSVP please contact, Noma Bolani on 066 112 3746 / nbolani@dffe.gov.za
Media enquiries:
Peter Mbelengwa
Cell: 082 611 8197
