South Coast Rock Lobster

South coast rock lobster (Palinurus gilchristi) is endemic to the continental shelf of southern South Africa, occurring on rocky substrata at depths of 50 to 200 metres. The species is found in commercial quantities at two locations: offshore on the Agulhas Bank in an area roughly 200 kilometres from the coast, and closer inshore (two to 50 kilometres from the coast) between Mossel Bay and East London. South coast rock lobster is a cold-water species that grows slowly and is long-lived. The inshore area between Danger Point and Cape Agulhas is an important settlement area for juveniles, which migrate to adult habitats on the Agulhas Bank and in the inshore area between Mossel Bay and Port Elizabeth. Rock lobsters that occur between Port Alfred and East London are generally smaller, slower-growing and do not migrate.

The South Coast rock lobster fishery is a deep water long line trap fishery that began in 1974. At that stage, both South African and foreign vessels exploited the deep water resource. However, in 1976 South Africa declared its 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zone and effectively halted foreign participation in the fishery. A total of 26 South African vessels remained in the fishery. This number dropped to 15 in 1981 after years of unsustainable and unregulated fishing led to the resource's collapse. In 1975, 2 092 tons of south coast rock lobster were harvested; by 1981 this had dropped to a mere 176 tons.

The fishery was first regulated by a total allowable catch ("TAC") in 1984. The TAC was set at 450 tons (tail mass). Ten years later, research indicated that the resource was still in decline. The management strategy for this fishery was fundamentally changed in 2000. A combined TAC and total applied effort ("TAE") strategy was introduced, which limited the number of days that a SCRL vessel may stay at sea. The "sea days" limit is calculated according to the portion of the TAC that is caught by a specific vessel, taking into account that vessel's fishing capacity.

Between 1989 and 2001, the SCRL resource had declined by 65 percent, largely due to overfishing by Hout Bay Fishing Industries (Pty) Ltd.

South Africa's management plan for the SCRL fishery has borne fruit. In the 2001/2002 fishing season, the SCRL TAC was set at 340 tons, combined with a TAE of 1 922 sea days. Three years later, the TAC increased to 382 tons, combined with a TAE of 2 089 sea days.

South coast rock lobster catches are off-loaded at Cape Town and Port Elizabeth harbours. The catch is generally frozen at sea and graded and repacked at shore-based facilities. Almost the entire catch is exported, predominantly to the USA. The value of the catch is approximately R100 million per annum.

Vessels are rigged for long-line trap-fishing. Barrel-shaped plastic traps are set for periods varying from 24 hours to several days. Each vessel typically hauls and resets approximately 2 000 traps per day in sets of 100 to 200 traps. Long-line trap-fishing is a labour-intensive fishing method. Crews consist of up to 35 persons. The vessels in this fishery are large, offshore vessels ranging in length between 30 and 60 metres. They fish for between 180 to 300 days per year.

The south coast rock lobster fishery is capital intensive, requiring large vessels, a substantial number of crew, access to foreign markets and funds for overhead costs such as fuel, vessel maintenance and salaries.

Sector Facts (FOR SECTOR DETAILS PLEASE EMAIL FEIKE AT ssonday@feike.co.za)



Sector Challenges: Feike's analysis of the allocation of rights and policy objectives for this fishery indicates the following challenges:

• The reduction in the number of right holders from 17 to 12 while maintaining the number of vessels at 9 will probably pose the most immediate challenge, particularly for the operators of the vessel, Helena Marie;
• Focusing increasingly on the empowerment of staff, women and the communities in which right holders operate;
• Strategic co-management with Marine and Coastal Management, particularly in the fields of compliance and fisheries management.

Sector Opportunities: Feike believes that the allocation of long-term rights will provide the South Coast rock lobster fishery with the following opportunities:

• The fishery is now effectively dominated by three large groupings and not one large right holder, which should encourage consolidation of the number of "individual" right holders;
• Creatively utilising the current number of 9 vessels;
• Strengthening of the Industry representative body, particularly to drive the agenda around performance measuring and EAF.