"The power supply crisis and looming fresh water shortage are early warnings that we need to urgently rein in our use of our natural resources to avert the full impact of climate change."

So said Dr Morne du Plessis, CEO of WWF SA, at a media briefing in February. “South Africa now has its best opportunity - and a rapidly narrowing time window - in which to act decisively to prevent critical resource shortages that would dash our hopes of sustained economic growth,” he commented.

He continued: "The pending crisis presented by our unchecked use of fresh water resources has sadly already been realised in the marine context: more than 75% of the world's species of commercial fish are overexploited; many species that we've relied on are commercially extinct. That's an ecological tragedy and for the people who have relied on the seas for sustenance and livelihood it is a calamity.

"The blackouts have also underscored the unsustainability of our energy policy and that environmental stewardship must be a cornerstone of increasing our energy generation capacity. In essence, this means that the current energy crisis should serve as a catalyst and focus our thinking on making responsible decisions into the future."

The government recognises this. President Thabo Mbeki apologised in his recent State of the Nation Address for the South African government and Eskom's tardiness of putting the country into a state of national emergency. There is much we can all do to help with the power crisis, he said, outlining that government's main priorities were to accelerate economic growth, speed up the infrastructure build, improve interventions in the second economy, and enhance education and training. The priorities he termed "business unusual" include implementing an industrial policy action plan and an integrated and comprehensive antipoverty strategy. The equalisation of the treatment of men and women receiving old age grants - at age 60 - is surely good news for the many elderly impoverished fishermen forced to go to sea to realise an income.

Fishing companies have been reacting to the power crisis. While some companies pre-empted the crisis by installing generators some time back, others say they have already had to dump fish at some of their operations, including cold storage facilities, because of the electricity cuts. The buck doesn't stop there though - some of the biggest issues are overtime pay, working daily around power outages and losses related to not being able to supply the export market.

The abalone harvesting ban and the associated diving ban came into effect on 1 February, but not without a fight. The SA Abalone Industry Association took the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism to court to have the ban overturned and as we went to press it was waiting impatiently for the judgement..
The experimental octopus fishery gets some attention in this issue. Current and wanna be permit holders had the opportunity to attend a highly informative workshop in November and left three days later highly motivated and determined to make the last two years of their permits work for them.

To conclude, take note there are new standards for swimming aids, including life jackets. You need to read the article on page 29 to see how this affects you.

Editor.

Cover Story

The vessel, Hooked, trading under the name Eagle Creek Investments 200 and operating in the large pelagics fishery, was photographed alongside the quay at Hout Bay harbour late last year. With her was the Extractor both owned by SAFCO, an empowerment company established by the late Brett Kebble. The vessels of which there are four in total, have been laid up for the past few months and are apparently due to be auctioned mid March. Photograph Arnie Burt.