African penguins after a foraging trip. The six closures work together to secure biologically meaningful foraging areas for African Penguins in each of the West Coast, southern Cape and Algoa Bay regions to help bring the species back from the brink of extinction, says the writer.
Image: CapeNature
Nkosikhulule Nyembezi
WHENEVER we go on family outings at sea, many of my fishing community friends help us to feed the African Penguin birds with leftover sardines and red-eye fish, especially in seasons when birds’ natural fare is in short supply.
We do this for two reasons: We want to contribute to the adequate provisioning of our avian neighbours, and we like to look out of a fishing vessel or tour breeding grounds in Dassen Island and Robben Island (West Coast), Dyer Island and Stony Point (Southern Cape), St Croix Island and Bird Island (Eastern Cape).
On a recent sunny day, I was pleased to see dozens of cheeky personality penguins perched high and low, their brilliant plumage glowing in the winter sun. Some unique sightings prompt me to shout to my kin to have a look. Though I am not sure how much feeding the birds is an unalloyed benefit to them, I am confident that the joy of having wild birds nearby is a plus to our mental health.
The March 18 historic victory secured in the Pretoria High Court by BirdLife South Africa and SANCCOB for South Africa’s Critically Endangered African Penguin is a cause for national celebration.
The court order by Deputy Judge President Ledwaba follows a hard-won settlement agreement reached by the two conservation NGOs with commercial sardine and anchovy purse-seine fishers (subsequently endorsed by the State) providing for the delineations of no-take zones for the commercial sardine and anchovy fishery around six key African Penguin breeding colonies that lie within coastal areas where this commercial fishery operates.
The six closures work together to secure biologically meaningful foraging areas for African Penguins in each of the West Coast, southern Cape and Algoa Bay regions to help bring the species back from the brink of extinction.
According to the organisations’ press statement, after a difficult six years of battling disagreement from fisheries scientists as penguin numbers dwindled from 2018’s count of 15,187 breeding pairs to just an estimated 8,750 at the end of 2023, BirdLife South Africa and SANCCOB took the difficult decision to resort to the courts in March 2024.
Represented by the Biodiversity Law Centre, the environmental NGOs sought to hold the Minister accountable to the constitutional and statutory obligations to mitigate the threat posed by sardine and anchovy fishing to the world’s African Penguin population – most of which remains in South Africa.
While determined to litigate, the statement continued, the conservation organisations have consistently maintained the need for consideration of a settlement which benefits African Penguins by securing critical foraging areas. Negotiations with the sardine and anchovy commercial fisheries representatives resulted in a settlement agreed to by the State the night before the three-day hearing was about to start on March 18.
The order provides that the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) will have two weeks to enforce the implementation of these closures by amending the permit conditions applicable to commercial sardine and anchovy fishers (also covering red-eye). These permit conditions will be renewed by the DFFE each January for the next 10 years. The 10-year period takes closure to the critical year, 2035 when the iconic African Penguin is predicted by scientists to be extinct in the wild – just a generation of penguins away.
What exactly could be the payoff for birders like me? Mainly, spectacular African penguin sightings to add to our lists. Birders love to keep lists: a life list, an Atlantic or Indian Ocean list, an island list, even a year list.
The South African national champion is a retired game ranger whose life list recently reached 8,000 penguins, accumulated over five decades along the South African coastline.
African Penguin listing sounds more like stamp collecting, but the listers get to travel, be out in nature and see beautiful wild creatures. Some days, the cheeky personality penguins are elusive, coming out of their nest only two or three times for brief intervals. Birders targeting the ones with cheeky personalities these days either have to endure long waits or unproductive visits. (In birders’ jargon, “they dipped.”) On other days, the cheeky personality penguins come many times and spend extended periods in view. Birders enjoy hoisting long lenses and thereafter trundle home with a warm memory.
What are we to make of this environmental milestone? African Penguin sightings provide bragging rights. So is this milestone court decision.
The closure agreed at Dassen Island accommodates the interests of commercial fisheries but has been counterbalanced, in this region, by an extended closure of a 20km radius around Robben Island.
The cutting-edge scientific analysis shows that the 20km closure at Robben can slow population declines around this breeding colony. It shows that this closure in place until at least 2033 may reverse the decline of this population.
And why does its success require our collective action? Nicky Stander, Head of Conservation at SANCCOB, says: “The threats facing the African Penguin are complex and ongoing – and the order requires monitoring, enforcement and continued cooperation from Industry and the government processes which monitor and allocate sardine and anchovy populations for commercial purposes. We must continue to advocate based on our scientific research and implement effective conservation strategies to ensure that African Penguins will thrive in the future. Our work continues, and we count on the continued support and engagement of the community to face the challenges ahead.”
We know that African Penguins are part of a critical marine ecosystem as Dr Alistair McInnes, BirdLife South Africa’s Seabird Conservation Programme Manager, puts it: “This case has been first and foremost about improving the chances of conserving Africa’s only penguin species, but the outcome of these closures will also benefit other marine predator species, such as Cape Gannets, Cape Cormorants, and other socio-economically important fish that also eat sardine and anchovy, as well as the livelihoods of many who derive benefits from marine ecosystems that are equitable and judiciously managed. We will continue to be led by the status of African Penguins and other seabirds as indicators of the health of our oceans and to focus with our partners on science-led solutions to conservation management along South Africa’s coastline.”
Let us hope thriving colonies of my favourite African Penguins will continue foraging happily in our coastal waters, especially in the surroundings of Robben Island!