World experts join court fight to save crayfish

Scientists want to force SA to cut back rock lobster harvest

● The world’s top marine scientists have stepped in to stop the government destroying one of the ocean’s most prized species and triggering an ecological disaster.

An unprecedented World Wide Fund for Nature court bid to save the West Coast rock lobster from extinction has united scientists from around the world against the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

Evidence and affidavits submitted to the High Court in Cape Town reveal how the department has ignored advice from its scientists to reduce the rock lobster harvest.

The department’s top officials have stopped paying for rock lobster stock assessments and have delayed vital scientific surveys of other fish species such as sardines and hake.

Central to the dispute are the minister, Senzeni Zokwana, and suspended deputy director-general for fisheries Siphokazi Ndudane. Both are embroiled in several controversies, including alleged involvement in an abalone corruption scandal, which they deny.

They are accused of manipulating fishing quotas to favour certain interest groups at the expense of sound management.

West Coast rock lobster, locally known as kreef or crayfish, is a valuable export and a vital source of income for coastal communities that survive largely off poaching — one of the main reasons for species decline — in the absence of formal quotas.

The government is finalising community quotas to address poaching, but communities fear it is too little too late because there will be too little left for them to earn a living.

The species also plays a key ecological “scavenger” role and is a source of food for other species such as the bank cormorant, which is also in decline.

The WWF’s court submission includes affidavits from some of the world’s foremost ocean scientists who attest to an alarming decline in kreef.

“This is serious, and indicates that urgent remedial action is needed,” said Andre Punt, director of the School of Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences at the University of Washington.

The WWF wants the court to force fish-