Court victory for penguins

In March twenty twenty-five, South Africa established no-take zones for commercial sardine and anchovy fishing around six major African penguin breeding colonies following litigation by BirdLife South Africa and Sanccob.

The six protected colonies

The no-take zones protect penguins at Dassen Island, Robben Island, Stony Point, Dyer Island, St Croix Island and Bird Island. Permit conditions in the small pelagic fishery were amended with immediate effect.

Government's conservation promise

Environment minister Dion George called it a pivotal moment. The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment said the measures would secure more fish for penguins and prevent extinction of a critically endangered species.

“pivotal moment”

The promise breaks down

Eighteen months later, penguins are losing weight, sardines have died along thousands of kilometres of coastline and commercial fishing has continued before the government even knows how many fish remain.

Penguins show weight loss

During a sardine mortality event beginning in late July, African penguin monitoring data showed penguins losing weight at multiple breeding colonies. At Dyer Island, average weights declined considerably for roughly ten to twelve days.

Population in steep decline

BirdLife South Africa reports the country's African penguin breeding population has almost halved in the past decade.

Rescue records show starvation

Sanccob's twenty twenty-six records include penguins described as emaciated, thin or severely underweight from Cape Recife, Gqeberha, Simon's Town, Sea Point and Betty's Bay.

Sardine die-off spreads

From late July, sardines began dying along the South African coast.Reports eventually stretched across about two thousand six hundred kilometres, including Namibia.

Government admits uncertainty

The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment concedes nobody yet knows exactly how many sardines died. Fish visible on beaches represent only part of the mortality. An unknown number sank or died offshore.

Scientists call for fishing halt

Scientists called for commercial sardine fishing to be stopped until the extent of the mortality could be established. The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment refused.

Fishing resumes before assessment

On eleven September, the DFFE allowed each commercial right holder to catch up to twenty five percent of its outstanding directed sardine quota until two October.

Precaution turned on its head

The DFFE allowed fishing to continue before the October or November hydroacoustic survey would provide the first fisheries-independent estimate of sardine biomass following the mortality event.The government does not yet know how many sardines remain.

Transparency problem emerges

The DFFE's temporary fishing restriction expired on two October. The department said its Small Pelagic Scientific Working Group would meet on twenty nine September but has not clearly explained whether the temporary restriction has been…

The choice before government

The question before the DFFE is whether the government is prepared to follow the logic of its own conservation commitment when circumstances become inconvenient.

What penguins need now

The African penguin does not need another declaration of commitment. It needs sardines. The DFFE needs to decide, while there are still penguins left to save, whose claim to those sardines comes first.

“The African penguin does not need another declaration of commitment. It needs sardines.”