Twenty weeks after Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Barbara Creecy placed a temporary ban on octopus fishing in False Bay, the exploratory industry will be allowed to put boats back into the water and fishers on the sea. But the bay will be empty of octopus gear over this weekend.

Creecy implemented the ban on June 28, following an outcry from the public after the fatal entanglement of an endangered Bryde’s whale in June. Fishers were told to remove all of their gear from the water and down tools until a decision about the octopus fishery was made by a working group of scientists, policymakers and others.

More than four months later, the decision to keep the fishery alive comes after Cape Town Octopus retrenched all of its staff and put its boats up for sale. So, while the company is technically allowed to put its gear back into the water today (Friday 15 November), it does not have any staff to handle the lines.

Garry Nel, who is the director and shareholder of Cape Town Octopus and also holds the exploratory octopus trapping permit, told Daily Maverick that, as of October 31, the company itself was also up for grabs.

The company was given one week’s notice before the lifting of the moratorium. According to Albi Modise, head of communication for the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, the department will conduct a meeting with Nel today, the same day the fishery’s ban is lifted, to discuss issues such as staff retrenchment.

Despite this, Nel told Daily Maverick that Cape Town Octopus “would like to carry on and develop this fishery.”

The department will not be reopening the process to identify interested businesses, nor will it reissue permits to fish octopus in False Bay, according to the department’s Cape Town head of communication, Zolile Nqayi. Nqayi told Daily Maverick the department intends to continue working with Nel and his company for the foreseeable future, as long as the mitigation measures are implemented.

Octopus fishing boat Albatross helps whale disentanglement professionals retrieve the corpse of a humpback whale on 27 June, 2019. (Photo: Brenton Geach/Gallo Images)

The strict mitigation measures that have to be implemented before the fishery is reopened include:

• All bottom lines and lines connected to the traps must consist entirely of sinking rope.
• Buoy lines must be fitted with a piece of chain immediately above the anchor, which will be moved.
• Buoy lines must be fitted with a length of PVC pipe at least 2m in length at the top section.
• Buoy lines must be below the water and attached to a delayed-release mechanism such as a timed, acoustic or electronic release mechanism. This will ensure the buoy is only released to the surface on or near the date of retrieval or servicing of the gear.

Fishers will also have the option to throw their lines without buoys, then grapple and drag them out of the water. According to an industry expert, who did not want to be named, grappling with an octopus fishing line takes at least an hour. Considering weather conditions and the fact that fishers cannot go on to the water every day, the expert said grappling at most five lines a day for hours on end is not financially feasible. Lines are also often thrown next to reefs, so dragging the lines over reefs can be detrimental to the environment.

But the moratorium comes with serious conditions. If two or more southern right or humpback whales become entangled in the octopus lines within the first three months, the fishery will be halted or terminated. Similarly, if just one Bryde’s whale is entangled, the fishery will also be halted or terminated. And if any of the entangled whales die, the False Bay industry will be shut down completely.

Craig Lambinon, spokesperson for the South African Whale Disentanglement Network (SAWDN) told Daily Maverick that getting fishing gear and rope out of the water column will have a significant impact on whale entanglement and subsequent mortality rates.

“The number of entanglements has been much higher in the octopus industry because they are right in the shallows of the bay, which is where the whales are,” said Lambinon, who greatly supports the idea of rope-free fishing.

Daily Maverick asked the department if whales become entangled in rope and fishing gear from other fishing industries in the False Bay area, and was told that the lobster industry is also a culprit when it comes to whale entanglements and deaths. Modise said the department is considering introducing whale entanglement mitigation measures in other industries, but has not yet consulted the fisher industry.

There is also another issue: the delayed-release mechanisms have to be imported, so it will take time before they can be delivered to South Africa. The price of the devices also varies. According to the department, some can be bought for as little as $10, to be replaced each time, while more complicated acoustic or electric devices can cost thousands of dollars each.

Modise indicated that a permit holder and a scientific team from the University of Cape Town are currently testing the viability of the devices.

According to Nqayi, Nel’s permit was set to expire in January 2021, but he will be allowed to fish until June 2021 “in order to make up for the fishing time lost during the temporary suspension”. DM