Cape Town - The West Coast rock lobster, commonly known as kreef, has been moved to the Southern African Sustainable Seafood’s (Sassi) Red List and consumers are urged not to buy the species as it is at a historical low of 2 percent.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Sassi said the government failed to implement measures to protect it and the livelihoods of those who depend on it.
It is now on a "don’t buy list" and could disappear within the next five years unless radical action is taken.
Sassi launched “Skip the kreef this summer” campaign after an outcry over the government’s recent announcement of an unchanged total allowable catch.
Programme manager Pavitray Pillay said: “This is a crisis. It needs real leadership to turn it around. Consumers have a key role in supporting legitimate fishers and demanding change through buying practices.”
WWF marine scientist Jessica Greenstone said: “If we can’t change the trends, a viable commercial fishery within the next five years is unlikely. This has implications for marine ecosystems, in which kreef play a key role, and communities that rely on them for their livelihoods.”
But, according to the South African United Fishing Front founder, Pedro Garcia, the call for South Africans to consume less rock lobster may not save the species.
Garcia said the impact would not be that big because of the “high value-driven export markets”.
“Even if it’s on it (Red List) and South Africans decide they won’t buy it, it won’t have a major impact, because nearly 100 percent of it is exported. It won’t have desired effects to protect resources,” said Garcia.
"There is a huge imbalance” as large companies make billions of rand in profit annually while small-scale fishermen cannot get close to those amounts. From our experience, we have noted a decline on an annual basis. We had agreed it should be closed, but on condition that there be a rehabilitation programme that won’t see communities end up with the short end of the stick.”
Information officer for the Masifundise Development Trust, which represents small-scale fishers, Nosipho Singiswa, said it was worried that lobster fishing would be closed. “We get most of our income from lobster and line fish. The closing of lobster fishing would impact us a lot as it is the best selling fish.”
The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries did not respond to queries by deadline.