Addo marine protected area to boost key species

● Official safe zone for penguins, gannets, whales, fish

After more than a decade of hard work, the Addo Elephant National Park marine protected area is finally a reality.

It was one of 20 new marine protected areas (MPAs) announced by the environmental affairs department on Tuesday.

SANParks Port Elizabethbased marine co-ordinator Dr Ane Oosthuizen, who started working on the Addo proposal in 2006, said the announcement marked a significant step for marine conservation.

“It’s a huge relief that we’ve finally got to this point and it’s very exciting looking forward.

“But now the really hard work of implementation begins,” she said.

Stretching 80km eastward from the Coega Harbour, the 1,200km² Addo MPA is aimed at protecting 8,500 pairs of endangered African penguins in their core habitat on Bird and St Croix islands in Algoa Bay and about 90,000 pairs of Cape gannets on Bird Island, the world’s biggest gannet colony.

It is also to conserve Brydes, minke, humpback and southern right whales, and white sharks, but is focused mostly on protecting key angling fish like kob and white steenbras.

Reef fish such as red roman and the reefs themselves – which offer food and habitat to marine species, most of them filter feeders, which help maintain good water quality in the bay – will also be protected.

Oosthuizen said the Addo MPA was divided into restricted and controlled zones, with the mix intended to go some way towards meeting the demands of different stakeholders at the same time as holding on to conservation goals.

“This MPA was achieved via comprehensive consultation with commercial fishermen, divers, members of the public and others,” she said.

She said once the MPA had been gazetted, hopefully early in 2019, the demarcation of the different zones and related regulations would be disseminated to all the stakeholders.

Information boards would be erected at boat launch points and distributed at boat and dive clubs.

The regulations would be policed by the Addo Elephant National Park’s 10-man marine ranger unit.

“There probably will be some confusion in the beginning and the onus will be on us to get the message out there,” Oosthuizen said.

“Once that is done, it will be up to individuals as responsible citizens to abide by the rules.”

Asked about the controversial off-shore fuelling or bunkering of ships in the bay and how this would gel with the new MPA, she said the issue was still being clarified.

“Bunkering is a huge concern because of the danger of an oil spill so close to the islands. There are no clear answers yet but the matter will be discussed before the Addo MPA is gazetted.”

The issue of shark cage diving in Algoa Bay was likewise awaiting direction from the department of environmental affairs and would be clarified in the gazette, Oosthuizen said.

This also applied to the proposed aquaculture zone off the mouth of the Sundays River.

Indigenous species would be farmed to avoid possible escapes and contamination of wild populations but the details were being finalised in conjunction with the department of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, she said.

The MPA includes a core restricted zone around Bird Island where both fishing and diving are prohibited to help counter perlemoen poaching.

The new protected area includes the PE Corals MPA, underwater hills and giant mushroom corals.

According to the department, it is the “kingdom of the kingklip”.