Cape Town - Western Cape small-scale fishers are in distress after the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment (DFFE) announced a 16.43% reduction of the Rock Lobster Total Allowable Catch (WCRL TAC) for the 2023 and 2024 fishing seasons.
Carmen Mannarino, programme manager at Masifundise Development Trust, said this cut directly impacts the small-scale fisheries (SSF) sector, with near-shore allocation dropping. from 93.9 to 78.54 tons, and offshore allocation is decreasing from 69.1 to 57.79 tons.
She said the SSF sector in the Western and Northern Cape heavily relies on WCRL as a high-value species, constituting a significant portion of their annual income.
These TAC cuts directly reduce the annual income of SSF, making it harder for them to meet their basic needs.
“The department’s current management system of the resource indicates an ineffective management system. In the scientific approach to assessing available stocks, indigenous knowledge of small-scale fishermen is disregarded, and the overall management approach hinders their socio-economic development and prioritises a purely technical and Western-centric understanding of the fishery,” said Mannarino.
She said that for small-scale fishermen, their connection to WCRL extends beyond their livelihood. encompassing cultural, traditional, and historical ties to their ancestors' way of life.
“The approach that is being fostered in relation to WCLR is the same that led to the closure of the abalone fishery 15 years ago.
This leads to further criminalisation of fishers who are trying to put food on the table and support their families, as no alternative solutions are provided that look at reducing the profit-making of large companies that also harvest WCRL,” she said.
DFFE deputy director-general Sue Middleton said in determining the TAC and Total Applied Effort (TAE) for the 2023 and 2024 WCRL fishing seasons, further consideration was given to the judgment of WWF South Africa v Minister of DFFE and others in the Western Cape High Court.
She said they have used the best available science and information in resource assessment, and the precautionary principle has been observed.
“The harvesting of WCRL at levels that do not facilitate the growth of the resource is contrary to the judgment and constitutes a threat of serious and irreversible environmental damage.
“In projecting how resource abundance would be influenced by reductions in TAC and the limitation of the TAE, a TAC of 460 tons for the 2023/24 fishing season has been determined,” said Middleton.