Court Order Stamps African Penguin Agreement

Pretoria High Court’s Deputy High Court Judge President, Aubrey Ledwaba, this morning made the settlement agreement – between BirdLife South Africa & SANCCOB (represented by the Biodiversity Law Centre) and the commercial purse seine fishing industry – an order of the court. This historic agreement provides for the delineations of no-take zones for the commercial sardine and anchovy fishery around six key African Penguin breeding colonies that lie within coastal areas where this commercial fishery operates. The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment has two weeks to implement the closures.