South African abalone is once again in the spotlight. The question is whether the latest fisheries minister - Willie Aucamp - is going to have gonads to actually put measures in place to fix South Africa's unchecked abalone poaching and corruption crises.
What can Minister Aucamp do? What is incredible is the fact that he can put in place a suite of measures rapidly that will massively reduce poaching in the immediate term and benefit small-scale abalone divers from Paternoster to Pearly beach who are historically reliant on abalone.
1. Increase the abalone TAC from 12 tons (!!) to ±600-700 tons and strictly implement and enforce the TURF management system. Have legal abalone divers displace illegal divers by keeping legal divers in the water for the maximum duration of the annual abalone season.
2. Allocate long term 15-year duration fishing rights to abalone divers who have been without rights since 2013. This will ensure a sense of "ownership" and further ensure that divers are personally invested in the well-being and sustainability of abalone stocks.
3. Co-manage the fishery with right holders.
4. Re-establish the dedicated "green courts" that had an 80% conviction rate when it existed and were responsible for the imprisonment and financial ruin of syndicate leaders like Jason Ross and Elizabeth Marks.
5. Re-establish and fund local-based enforcement and fishery oversight bodies.
6. Clean up the corruption in the fisheries department and open up the entire sale processes of confiscated abalone (and lobster) to public scrutiny and oversight by the fisheries portfolio committee.
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