Abalone saga remains unresolved

The diving restrictions are to affect several areas of the coastline where the stock is most likely to recover. This includes Robben Island, Dyer Island, Bird Island, a coastal area from Gansbaai to Quoin Point and at Cape Point. The revised restriction on diving in certain areas came into effect on 1 February. This coincided with the implementation of the emergency suspension of the abalone fishery. Meanwhile, the legal dispute over abalone harvesting between the DEAT and the SA Abalone Industry Association continues in the Cape High Court, notes a Cape Times report. The Association has launched an application to have the ban set aside. Full BuaNews report Full Cape Times report (subscription needed)

But, government decision-making on the abalone poaching problem has been criticised by opposition politicians. The diving ban in abalone ‘hotspots’ around the coast will not be an effective tool in curbing poaching and the government should rather improve the effectiveness of its Marine and Coastal Management (MCM), says the DA\'s environment spokesperson Gareth Morgan, quoted in the Cape Argus. MCM should be given a bigger budget allocation during the new financial year, argues Morgan. Also, two senior managers are still employed in acting positions and this needs to be rectified. Full Cape Argus report (subscription needed)

The scale of poaching is apparent in the number of arrests of suspected poachers. Twenty people have been arrested in two separate abalone poaching incidents in which warning shots were fired and a vehicle and diving equipment were seized, reports the Cape Argus. Sixteen divers were arrested at Bird Island in Algoa Bay, one of the banned diving areas, in a joint operation by marine protection officials from the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and SA National Parks. In a second incident this week, marine officials were tipped off by a member of the public that a ‘super duck’ was about to deliver a shipment of poached perlemoen and West Coast rock lobster at the Hawston slipway near Hermanus. Four men were arrested. Full Cape Argus report (subscription needed)