Minister of forestry, fisheries and the environment (DFFE), Barbara Creecy, has requested that the deputy director-general responsible for Fisheries Management, Sue Middelton, extend the nearshore West Coast rock lobster fishing season from 15 to 19 April.
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According to a press release, the extension is in recognition of the extreme adverse weather conditions that have occurred in the Western Cape over the last week.
‘I received a number of urgent verbal and written requests from the small-scale fishing cooperatives that were particularly hard hit by the extreme weather conditions, preventing them from catching their full allocations,’ said Creecy.
The Department issued the public notice granting the extension on Friday, April 12, and it will be communicated to the chairpersons of Western Cape small-scale cooperatives and nearshore commercial rights holders.
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‘It should also be noted that Fisheries Management has already granted an exemption to allow for fishing over this coming weekend of April 13 and 14,’ Creecy concluded.
Heavy downpours and high winds hit parts of the Western Cape, prompting the South African Weather Service to issue Level 9 warnings for severe and potentially damaging weather.
The recreational West Coast Rock Lobster season began on December 16, 2023 and ended on April 1, 2024, with fishing limited to 12 days between those dates.
Given the WWF decision in the Cape High Court in September 2018, the DFFE reduced the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for the 2023/2024 season by 16.43% compared to the previous fishing season.
‘The harvesting of West Coast Rock Lobster at levels which do not facilitate growth of the resource is contrary to the judgement and constitutes a threat of serious and irreversible environmental damage. In projecting how resource abundance would be influenced by reductions in TAC and limitation of the TAE, a TAC of 460 tons for the 2023/2024 season has been determined,’ the DFFE said.
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Also read:
Red tide leaves tonnes of rock lobster stranded on West Coast
Picture: Ellie Burgin / Pexels