Judgement Day or Much Ado About Nothing?

Green lobbyists and conservationists are right to be concerned about the disappearance of Great Whites from our waters and the ongoing decline in the sustainable status of the demersal shark population. But there’s also danger of glamourising and inflating this concern in the general media, especially knowing that a judgement on a court case is soon to be delivered.

For several years the conversation around sharks has not been positive. 

Environmentalists have expressed how infuriated and concerned they are about the so-called disappearance of Great Whites, the activities of Orcas, and the decline of the demersal shark population, specifically soupfin and smooth-hound sharks. The latter were globally red listed in 2020 by the International Union for Conservation (IUCN) as ‘critically endangered’ and ‘endangered’, respectively. Read Spotlight on Soupfin and Smooth Hound Sharks

Their concern has merit. In their view the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) hasn’t done enough to institute adequate measures to protect the sustainable status of South Africa’s demersal shark population. Read South Africa’s Plan to Protect Sharks Needs an Urgent Update

Secondly, it continues to allocate demersal shark longlining fishing rights to commercial operations. One of these was the fishing company that owned the White Rose longliner which was caught fishing illegally in the De Hoop Marine Protected Area in May 2019.