[imagesource: Swati Thiyagarajan]

Every year, around wintertime, humpback whales and southern right whales roll into town, where they raise their young and mix with our local Bryde’s whales and orcas.

The resident shark population may not be that keen on the orcas (especially the now famous Port and Starboard), but Capetonians and tourists alike take great joy in watching our marine life being left to their own devices.

South Africa banned all whaling back in 1979 and, according to Safarious, “last season a head count revealed the largest numbers of southern right and humpback whales on record in our waters”.

Sadly, though, the safety of Cape Town’s whale population, and especially those who frequent False Bay, is now in danger:

Two days ago, a whale was spotted entangled and dead in the ropes that hold octopus fishing traps together. In the last two years there have been eight recorded deaths of whales by this fishery…

A beautiful male Bryde’s whale entangled in rope with his tongue hugely swollen and hanging out of his mouth. Bryde’s whales are year round residents in our waters. Very little is known about these animals. In fact any kind of research one tries to do comes back as data deficient.

We don’t even know what conservation status it falls under because we have no ideas of how many there are. There could be a decent enough number or a very low one. So the death of every one is crucial and tragic, especially when the animal is a breeding male in his prime. It’s a knock-out blow for future numbers.

Eight recorded deaths from one fishery in the past two years alone. Let that sink in.

The Bryde’s whale carcass was towed in, and it was easy to see what had caused the animal’s death.

It must have been swimming along feeding when the rope holding the octopus trap must have floated into his mouth and entangled in the baleen. The panicked animal dived trying to dislodge it and the rest of the rope wrapped around its torso and tail yanking it into a choke hold.

The deep cuts on the animal’s body was testament to the hours of struggle as the rough rope has sliced its way deep into the whale’s flesh. It must have been hours of panic struggle and pain while drowning finally from exhaustion.

It’s a gruesome description, but that’s the reality that these animals face when swimming amongst the octopus traps, which have ropes and a metal chain that extends from the ocean floor right up to the surface.

The octopus fishery in question has been operational for 15 years, after being given an “experimental” license with a fixed quota of between 50 and 100 tons.

Dr Jannes Landschoff, a marine biologist affiliated with Sea Change, asks why “in the last fifteen years, there has been no data from this fishery, and indeed if the quota is even viable in the first place as so little is known of how many octopus there are in this ecosystem”.

Craig Foster and Sea Change addressed Parliament on this issue a few years ago and there has been no response.

Even if you remove the suffering of the whales from the equation, as well as the fact that octopuses are a keystone species in the local ecosystem, the cold, hard numbers still illustrate the sheer scale of the problem:

These animals are iconic, bringing tourists into South Africa in great numbers and it is an international shame that, after banning whaling, a single fishery can be the reason for the death of whales in our waters.

Eight might be the recorded number, but many more have been entangled and luckily rescued. Every time one dies and needs retrieval like this Bryde’s whale, it costs the city over R30 000…

What is the physical and ecological cost of a living whale? What is the cost to the tourism economy one of our biggest contributors to our GDP? Why is this octopus fishery which is run by two men who employ six others catching octopus that is not even eaten here in SA but destined for the Chinese market so important?

It contributes nothing to the local communities or indeed to the economy in any significant way. It makes more sense to stop the fishery and hand out more whale watching licenses to owners of boats as it is both an economic and ecological win.

South Africa should rightly be proud of the fact that it is one of only 17 megadiverse countries on the planet. Indeed Cape Town is the most biodiverse city in the world. South Africa can also be proud of the conservation success of whales and the fact that it has one of the better managed pelagic fisheries in the world. It is a shame that one fishery benefitting so few tarnishes this reputation.

Yeah, it really is.

Thankfully, the Inkatha Freedom Party is now taking the issue forward in Parliament, issuing a scathing press release yesterday:

The Inkatha Freedom Party is incensed at governments continued support for a so-called ‘experimental’ yet for-profit octopus fishery in False Bay, Cape Town…

IFP Chief Whip in Parliament and spokesperson on Environment, Mr Narend Singh, MP, said ,”The IFP deplores the wanton destruction of such iconic marine life and holds government complicit in the killing this male bryde’s whale on the 10th June, as this licence should have never been granted in the first place.”

…“In the circumstances, the IFP calls upon government to immediately revoke all octopus fishing licences currently issued in False Bay and to conduct an urgent environmental impact analysis of the past 15 years of for-profit octopus fishing upon the marine environment in False Bay, the costs whereof being for the full account of the current octopus fishing licence holder.”

…“I have personally sent to correspondence to the Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries in this matter and ministerial questions are currently being filed at parliament in the hope that the practice and licence for octopus fishing in False Bay is immediately revoked,” concluded Singh, MP.

That press release also names the owner of the fishery, and decries the fact that the octopuses are “destined for fine dining restaurants in Asia”.

Taking the matter forward in Parliament is a good start, but you’ll have to excuse me if I’m not too enthused about how swiftly they’ll act on the matter.

You only need to look at what happened in Parliament yesterday to understand why.

If you want to know more about how you can get involved, you can contact the Sea Change Project on Facebook.

You can also sign the petition, SAVE OUR WHALES: STOP OCTOPUS TRAP FISHING IN FALSE BAY, CAPE TOWN.

[sources:safarious&ifp]