Are Plummeting Penguin Numbers a Paradox for the Pelagic Fishing Sector?

The pelagic fishing sector and a consortium of conservationists and individual scientists from two South African universities have differing opinions about no-go zones around African penguin colonies. On the one hand the conservationists are trying to save dwindling populations of penguins in the Western and Eastern Cape. On the other hand, the industry says more research is needed to find out why numbers are declining when the scientists cannot even be sure it is fishing that is causing the problem. Furthermore, imposing a 20km radius ban around islands for the next 10 years will have massive socio-economic impact on jobs, local food security and especially school feeding schemes, as well as the aquaculture and agricultural industries.