If implemented timeously, the set of recommendations given by the Consultative Advisory Forum (CAF) and accepted in late December last year by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), could be a game-changer for fishing communities.
In November last year, Minister of Forestry and Fisheries and Environmental Affairs, Barbara Creecy, assigned a special project to the forum (which consists of fishing community representatives) to advise on the west coast rock lobster fishery. Specifically, CAF was to consider the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) process and to review data on the poaching and local sales estimates used in the TAC model.
Among CAF’s recommendations, the one the media and the public latched onto most was the increase of the TAC to 700 tons from the 600 tons originally determined for the 2021/2022 fishing season. And understandably so. It is this which will determine fishers’ immediate income for the year ahead.
But when it comes to establishing long-term sustainability, it is the other recommendations that require the immediate attention and buy-in of DFFE and industry stakeholders says Faez Poggenpoel, a fifth-generation fisher from Kalkbay, and a representative on CAF.
At the heart of it all lies data – its accuracy and the methods used to procure it.
The global TAC is divided among the fishing sectors (for example commercial and small-scale) and further divided among fishing areas; the breakdown of allocations is called the inter-area schedule.
How many kilograms, for example, a small-scale fisher is allowed to catch in a season differs from and depends on the fishing area fishers happen to find themselves in.
Poggenpoel explains there are mainly three things that determine how much of a share each fisher is allowed: operational management procedure (OMP), the “resource” within an area and its “abundance”.
In this case, the resource is the west coast rock lobster, and the abundance refers to how many there are estimated to be in a given area. The OMP is essentially a set of rules that specifies exactly how the TAC is calculated using stock-specific monitoring data (both commercial and fishery-independent indices of abundance).
The media statement released on 13 December, announcing the acceptance of CAF’s recommendations, said CAF recognised the method used to determine the TAC was sound.
“However, CAF recommended that the department consider whether the relatively high variance of the Fishery Independent Monitoring Survey (FIMS) data could be affecting trend estimates and the implications of un-surveyed components of stock, especially in deeper water,” the statement read.
Other key recommendations were that DFFE consider introducing a coastal “reference fleet” to support closing data gaps and to pilot a more participatory “co-management” approach.
Poggenpoel says the forum was a landmark engagement. “We wanted it for such a long time. To get around the table with the scientists. There is a big disconnect between the scientists and the communities. We were able to highlight key weaknesses in the science and the data.”
He explains at present research is done to determine what the abundance of the resource is in the various areas, as well as independent research. “The independent research is part of DFFE but it is limited in that it doesn’t account for changes in fishing patterns due to climate change.”
According to Poggenpoel, the department has only one vessel dedicated to research. He believes what is needed is industry-wide research; multiple vessels participating in research over a sustained period of time.
“Integrated co-management will allow for more collaborative record keeping and researching areas that are currently no-fishing areas. We simply don’t have enough data to be able to determine if other areas should be opened or increased.”
He says time is of the essence.
“Everyone accepts there is a lot of work that needs to be done – the department, the communities, and the scientists. Now it is a matter of implementing the recommendations urgently. Time is already running out to address them before the new season starts.”
