Rigorous Fisheries Management a Better Option than More MPAs

By Innocent Dwayi

Late last year, Emeritus Professor Doug Butterworth sparked a debate when he asked the question: “How indispensable are marine protected areas for protecting South African marine environment?” Butterworth’s piece, published in Fishing Industry News in November, was followed by commentaries from Peter Mbelengwa, Craig Smith and Kate Handley, Jack Walsh and Mike Bergh. 

Bergh’s detailed analysis concluded that “the claim that marine protected areas (MPAs) are indispensable for the sustainability of fisheries is questionable”. Very importantly for the fishing industry, Bergh’s piece emphasised the need for consultation at a very early stage, including whether South Africa should make binding commitments to MPA targets without proper scientific justification. He refers, of course, to our country’s commitment to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which includes a goal to protect 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030 (cleverly captured in the slogan “30×30”). 

With just five years to 2030, the push to dramatically grow South Africa’s MPA footprint as a means of meeting the commitment to the Global Biodiversity Framework will presumably start to escalate.