Perlemoen exports mercilessly
decimated, writes Ray Smuts
ENJOYING a dish of white steenbras in your favourite restaurant this year is a prospect as remote as a dinosaurus fillet, for it is one of the country's linefish stocks that have collapsed as a result of massive over-fishing.
So serious has the situation become - and some will argue it is a case of too little too late - that new emergency regulations are expected to be gazetted soon to drastically reduce the number of linefish allowed to be caught by commercial and recreational fishermen.
White steenbras, which take six years to sexually mature as opposed to one year for a pilchard, is one of 18 linefish stocks that have collapsed leading to a moratorium being placed on catching them.
Only 6% of the original white steenbras breeding stock is left, say experts, and it is now mandatory for all caught to be returned to the sea forthwith.
Also in collapse, a term denoting stocks of adult breeding fish sinking below 25% of the original population, are other popular varieties including seventy-four, geelbek, red roman, red stumpnose, galjoen and several varieties of kob.
Last month saw the government announce its intention to introduce a fully-fledged coastguard to protect the country's valuable marine resources against local and foreign fish poachers.
Particularly under threat is perlemoen (abalone), a great delicacy fetching vast prices in the Far East and which has been poached mercilessly for more than a decade.
The Department of Environmental Affairs has given the go-ahead for the R400 million purchase of three 45-metre fast inshore patrol vessels and an 80-metre deep-sea patrol ship. The latter will patrol South Africa's 2500-nautical mile economic exclusion zone and around Marion and Prince Edwards Islands where the Patagonian tooth-fish has been targeted by poachers.
These vessels will also have rescue and fire-fighting capabilities and will be equipped with the latest anti-pollution gear to carry out oil-spill counter-measure operations.
Acquisition of the new vessels is good news for Marine and Coastal Management (formerly Sea Fisheries) which has been fighting a losing battle against protecting the country's fishing grounds.
Of the seven old coastal patrol vessels, four have been scrapped and the other three, almost 30 years old, pose little threat to foreign and local poachers.
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