NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION 333
Question 333 for written reply: National Assembly, Mr W F Faber (DA-NC) to
ask the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries:
1) With regard to experimental abalone permits which were issued in the
Eastern Cape for St Francis Bay and Jeffreyâs Bay, (a) how many permits
were allocated in total in the Eastern Cape, (b) to whom were they
issued, (c) on which grounds, (d) for which areas and (e) what is the
size of the permits which were issued;
(2) in respect of each permit that was issued, (a) what are the details
of the research that will be conducted as part of these experimental
permits, (b) who is responsible for this research, (c) what conservation
agreements were included in the permit agreement with the fishing
company and (d) how will (i) each of these projects be monitored by her
department and (ii) the natural resources be sustained in the long run?
CW435E
REPLY:
(1) (a) Seven (7) permits were issued, (b) to Overberg Combined Abalone
Divers (OCAD) on behalf of the beneficiaries, (c) on the grounds that
beneficiaries have an agreement with OCAD to catch abalone on their
behalf, (d) in the following seven (7) areas: Western Sunshine Coast,
Port Elizabeth, Eastern Sunshine Coast, Southern Border Kei, Border Kei
West, Border-Kei East, and Wild Coast (e) 9 tonnes, 5 tonnes, 3 tonnes,
1.5 tonnes, 3 tonnes, 6 tonnes, and 4 tonnes respectively.
(2) (a) The research is being conducted to assess whether there are
sufficient stocks of abalone in the Eastern Cape to sustain a viable
long-term commercial fishery. The experiment is divided into seven areas
in order to assess the stocks on a more geographically-defined basis,
and the allocations per area have been provided in response to (1)(e)
above. The experiment is planned to run for three full fishing seasons
in order to assess the response of the abalone resource to fishing
pressure over time.
(b) The Chief Directorate: Fisheries Research & Development is responsible
for the scientific aspects of the research, while the Chief Directorate:
Marine Resource Management is responsible for the management aspects and
the Chief Directorate: Monitoring, Control & Surveillance is providing
monitoring and compliance support.
(c) Conservation measures include:
⢠A maximum (by weight) catch allocation in each of the seven areas;
⢠A minimum size of 114mm (this is the same size limit as for the
existing commercial fishery);
⢠Abalone can only be sold to the Fish Processing Establishment with
whom the community has entered into agreement.
(d) (i) Catch monitors already deployed in the area have been trained to
collect the required information from this experiment. Catch information
will be collated on a continuous basis by the Department, and analysed to
evaluate the strength of the resource and its responses to fishing pressure
at the culmination of the experiment.
(ii) The objective of the experiment is to determine whether the abalone
resources in the area can sustain a long-term fishery, and if so what level
of harvest can be sustained.