Poaching rocks lobster trade

16 January 2011 - 01:06 By LUCKY BIYASE
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The multimillion-rand lobster industry, which employs about 4200 people, is under increasing pressure from mainly Chinese syndicates who are poaching the rare species.

But a ground-breaking case in the US related to overfishing in SA waters could just save this and other industries.

Peter Foley of SA Inshore Fishing, a company involved in the lobster industry, said there were growing fears that the industry could go the same route as abalone, which was closed down in 2006 because of rampant poaching.

According to official figures, about 500 tons of lobster is poached annually, but people in the industry put the figure at 1000 tons.

"By 2006 the resource was depleted to about 2.6% of the pristine level (the acceptable level of stability), substantially below the level at which a resource is regarded as over-exploited," according to the minutes of a meeting of concerned industry players, dubbed Rock-Lobster Compliance Indaba, which was held in June last year.

Players in the industry blame lax government control, too few personnel, poor training and corruption among officials as major reasons for the ongoing poaching.

Poachers are known to bribe compliance officers who turn a blind eye in many coastal regions in the Cape.

Foley said that besides the syndicates, poaching was also encouraged by a lack of regulation and control over the interim relief allocation (the amount that is allowed to be fished).

"There is not enough regulation and control at landing points. Fishers may and will sell their permitted allocation to any willing buyer.

''The over-catch will be sold directly to holiday residents in the area, or to the local hotels and restaurants. These landings are not recorded.

''In summary, the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries' (DAFF) failure to manage encourages poaching," Foley said.

Experts say that because of its increasing scarcity over the years, lobster has become a traditional dish for special occasions throughout Europe and Asia. The spiny lobster is in high demand by all connoisseurs of crustaceans.

The West Coast rock lobster is a cold-water species. These are superior in taste and texture compared with their warm-water counterparts, placing the South African spiny West Coast rock lobster in greater demand.

Marius Diemont, a partner at Webber Wentzel, said poaching was driven by high market prices and poor enforcement at the primary fishing level.

"More difficult is that poachers often operate with impunity," Diemont said.

"In some areas local enforcement agents and residents are simply too scared to take action because they fear being attacked or victimised by poachers."

Justin Truter, a director at Werksmans Attorneys and former head of the Green Scorpions in the Western Cape, said that historically SA lacked the legislative means and regulatory capacity to prevent unlawful exploitation through poaching of its marine resources, including West Coast and South Coast rock lobster.

"The Department of Environmental Affairs, under minister Valli Moosa in particular, recognised the threat of a total collapse of certain of our fisheries, and in particular the abalone industry due to poaching and over-harvesting.

''A conscious effort to address this threat began a little more than 10 years ago when various laws were promulgated," Truter said.

Early this month, the US Court of Appeals delivered a ground-breaking judgement ordering that former managing director of Hout Bay Fishing Industries Arnold Bengis and his accomplices Jeffrey Noll and David Bengis pay restitution to SA following the unlawful harvesting of South and West Coast lobster in South African waters.

This came after an investigation by the now defunct Scorpions and the successful prosecution of Hout Bay Fishing Industries in SA in April 2002.

Hout Bay was ordered to pay a fine of R12-million and two of its fishing vessels were forfeited to the state for over-harvesting of lobsters between 1987 and 2001.

In May 2001, Marine and Coastal Management (now DAFF) advised its counterpart in New York that a container of illegally caught fish had been shipped from Hout Bay Fishing to New York.

The container was intercepted by US authorities who started their own investigation with close co-operation from DAFF officials and the Scorpions.

After being charged in the US, the trio was sentenced to various terms of imprisonment and fined a total of $13.3-million.

Diemont said this was an extremely important case for the enforcement of wildlife laws internationally as it gave countries a huge incentive to cooperate with US law enforcement agencies in prosecuting instances of illegal wildlife and plant harvesting as the countries affected could become entitled to compensation under US law for damage done to their natural resources.

Truter said the illegal harvesting and poaching of SA's marine resources was still continuing, and in certain instances, was escalating.

"Illegally harvested abalone and lobster are used to trade for drugs, it's fertile territory in which the Chinese triads and other mafia flourish at the expense of the SA communities," Truter said.

The World Wildlife Fund estimates that illegal fishing could constitute up to 30% of the catch in fisheries globally, and that, since the mid-90s, SA lost about R2-billion to toothfish poaching alone.

In 2007, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China imported 3000 tons of SA abalone, whereas the local commercial abalone aquaculture industry produced only 1000 tons.

Truter said: "The judgment will hopefully serve as a deterrent to those involved in the over-harvesting of the country's marine resources, and any other natural resources."

Diemont said the Marine Living Resources Act made provision for substantial penalties.

"Apart from the illegally caught lobster or fish being seized and forfeited to the state, under the act, the vessels or vehicles used can also be seized and forfeited.

''Fines of between R2-million and R5-million per offence can be applied to foreign vessels where South African-flagged vessels are used to catch fish illegally in SA waters," Diemont said.

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