Perlemoen crisis
2007-11-16 14:33
Cape Town - Hundreds of small-scale fishermen in the Western Cape will be affected by the proposed ban on commercial abalone (perlemoen) fishing, although it is large-scale poaching that has caused their near commercial extinction, experts told News24.
Masifundise Development Organisation, a non-governmental organisation that works with small-scale and traditional fishing and coastal communities along the Cape's south and west coasts, has convinced government to delay the ban to February 2008, arguing that the ban would jeopardise the livelihoods of fishermen.
"Two hundred and fifty individual rights holders and 42 closed corporations in the Western cape will be affected," Masifundise director Naseegh Jaffer told News24.
Warnings since 2004
The looming commercial extinction of the edible mollusc has been cause for concern for some years. Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk's office said that warnings the fishing of abalone might be closed were issued as far back as 2004.
But the ban that was originally planned for November 1 caused outrage amongst trade unions and organisations like Masifundise.
Jaffer said that the real problem was with the poachers and not with the legitimate "rights holders": the fishermen who were permitted to fish.
"The legal quantity that the fishermen can take out is a 125 tonnes," said Jaffer. "Our understanding is that the poachers remove probably 20 times as much as that."
The 125 tonnes is the legal limit for the season and the season is generally six to eight months long, according to Jaffer.
While government has drawn up a social plan to provide the fishers with alternative means of employment, Jaffer said the plan as it stood would not work.
Shark cage diving
Some of the measures incorporated into the current social plan included developing a sustainable aqua-culture industry and issuing additional permits for whale-watching and shark cage diving.
But Jaffer said those options were not feasible. "To start an abalone farm you'll probably have to have capital outlay to the value of R10m and fishermen don't have that kind of money. It will take a minimum of five years in order to make your first money and fishermen can't work that long either."
Basic equipment for perlemoen fishing include a wetsuit, lead weights and two aqualungs. Fishermen either waded in from the shore or dived off boats.
The new social plans were outside the capacity of ordinary fishermen, according to Jaffer. He said that even shark cage diving required equipment that they did not have.
However Jaffer commended the minister for committing himself to a consultative process with the unions and fishers to work out a new social plan.
"Our belief is that there must be the most practical relief measures put in place that will maintain the income of small scale fishers as soon as the industry closes."
It appeared that closing the industry was not an option. Rhodes University Icthyology head of department, Professor Pete Britz, said that commercial abalone fishing would inevitably have to be stopped, it was only a question of when.
While trade union organisations lauded government's decision to delay the ban on commercial abalone fishing, Britz warned that the entire current fishing rights policy must be reworked to save the mollusc from commercial extinction.
Winning the poaching war
"I see it purely as a means to restructure the current management of the fishery," said Britz of the proposed ban. "Government has to get rights holders more actively involved in protecting and rebuilding the resource. They are the key to success. If rights holders actively guard their areas we can win the poaching war."
However, Britz pointed out that while the ban was absolutely necessary, it should just be an interim measure. "If MCM (Marine and Coastal Management) and government negotiate a partnership to restructure rights and work together to protect and rehabilitate the resource, you could actually get an immediate increase in employment through enhanced security, reseeding of cultured perlemoen and so on," he said.
Jaffer said that the minister's proposed ban was indefinite. The numbers of perlemoen were so low that it would take at least seven years for stocks to build up before the industry could reopen.
Britz too said that poaching was the real reason behind the problem, spurred by the high price of perlemoen.
"On a 'good' day a boat based poacher can make R30-40 000 for 100kg of meat," said Britz, explaining that the legal export price for the sort after fish was about R800/kg for meat. He said poacher divers get R300-400/kg.
Britz said that in some ways the crisis was a good thing as the industry was in a no win situation before. "The crisis has focussed minds on possible solutions and got players around the table," said Britz. "The minister's agreement to suspend the ban until February and work with Cosatu towards a solution is a step in the right direction."