Commercial Abalone Sector submits Abalone Recovery Plan

Commercial Abalone Sector submits Abalone Recovery Plan

Commercial Abalone Sector submits Abalone Recovery Plan: An Abalone Recovery Plan was submitted to the Department of Fisheries (DFFE)
on 5 August 2025.

This was done by members of the Commercial Abalone Sector who realised the writing
was on the wall for their fishery. It focuses on establishing small, protected breeding
colonies to re-establish wild abalone where it once used to thrive. It incorporates and
includes partnerships with abalone farms, ranching, research and job creation for
abalone quota holders that will most likely soon be without an income. It proposes
community involvement and private sector security, and could assist with the protection
of other inshore marine species.

The proposal considers financing through the massive amount of revenue generated
from poached abalone currently being used to cover the day to day administrative
expenses of our fisheries department. Another financing option mentioned is through
ranching partnerships with abalone farms.
The plan is to start off with small protected areas and organically grow them to
ultimately and sustainably re-introduce abalone to its original range. If successful, it
could restore a fishery worth half a billion rands per year with the process being
self-financing.

By comparison, the department’s published “abalone strategy” does not amount to
much more than giving abalone fishing rights to the small-scale sector.
The Abalone Recovery Plan was submitted at an Abalone Scientific Working
Group Meeting with the hope of getting the ball rolling. Curiously enough, the proposal
was not met with excitement by DFFE personnel or scientists. While the plan was
submitted well ahead of the meeting, the organisers of the meeting failed to circulate it
amongst the attendants. At the meeting the opinion was raised that it was not the
“correct” platform to discuss the proposal, and that was pretty much the end of it. No
suggestions were made as to what the “correct” platform would be. A request to at least
circulate the proposal amongst the scientists present was met with quoting “procedure”
about having to submit it for “approval” to the chair of the meeting, a Mr. Sandisa Sigam.
This was done, but, as far as I could determine, the proposal went no further than Mr.
Sigam.

This reaction did not come as a surprise, and only goes to confirm how deeply
dysfunctional and politicised our fisheries department has become. They really could
not give a flying fig about restoring our resources. Over the past 15 years the
department has happily “managed” some of our most valuable marine species into near
commercial extinction, while drawing massive salaries for their “services”. In the recent
past, several high ranking officials also got caught with their fingers in the “cookie jar”
when it comes to large amounts of confiscated abalone worth millions.

While fisheries officials are living it up and acting like royalty, they clearly do not believe
that fishers should share in their prosperity. (With the exception of a few “connected”
companies.) The average individual quota holder in the Abalone and West Coast Rock
Lobster Nearshore Sector are expected to survive off incomes that are less than the
official minimum wage in South Africa. At the same time they have to invest heavily in
expensive equipment, including boats and towing vehicles, and finance the
maintenance on these without any government assistance. This is of course typical of a
communist regime- where the government lives it up and the general populace have to
queue for scraps.

Admittedly, all of this has been committed under ANC rule. The DA has however, now
taken over DFFE, and has been at the helm for more than a year. Minister Dion George
has up till date remained mute on these burning issues, choosing to rather give rights to
even more fishers, thereby compounding the problem, and make silly little speeches
about creating “harbour economies” than grab the big issues by the proverbial horns.
There is much that could be done to improve matters. Apart from the Abalone
Recovery Plan, getting rid of a multitude of paper quotas in all sectors would
instantly make more fish available to provide the actual fishers with a viable income.

While I generally have little faith in politicians, I have to mention what excellent job the
VF+ has recently done in turning around our correctional services in a matter of mere
months; showing what is possible when you put your mind to it. By comparison, the DA
has been dragging its feet. In fact, they are not even out of the starting blocks.
The time for half measures and empty promises are over.

It is time for the DA to prove that they really are “Better than the ANC” as they constantly proclaim, or step aside and
let someone who is not afraid to get his hands dirty take over. Cleaning out the rotten
and dysfunctional nest called our “fisheries department” will be an excellent start.

If you are interested in supporting the restoration of our abalone resource or want to get
involved, feel free to contact me at 0818552488 or at antonsurfer@gmail.com.

I will keep you informed on our progress.
Anton Kruger

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