Penguin preservation plans hit conundrum

Pericles Anetos | 01 December, 2014

There are estimated to be 18000 pairs of penguins on South African territory. This is less than half the population recorded in 2000. File photo Image by: Gallo Images / The Times / Shelley Christians

The fate of the African penguin is in the hands of the few scientists, South African and foreign, who will today meet in Cape Town to debate the fate of the much-loved bird.

The meeting will tackle the question of whether fishing around penguin colonies should be banned.

The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has asked the experts to examine the findings of a study on the efficacy of prohibiting fishing in the vicinity of islands on which penguin colonies have been established.

The department ran the study over six years in partnership with several universities.

But the study produced seemingly contradictory results, complicating the planning of how to prevent the further decline of the penguin population.

There are estimated to be 18000 pairs of penguins on South African territory. This is less than half the population recorded in 2000.

The study examined the effects of banning fishing for sardines and anchovies around penguin-breeding colonies. But the results of the study - conducted in Western Cape and Eastern Cape - are contradictory.

The study found that buffer zones around the islands in Algoa Bay, Eastern Cape, had a positive effect, while the opposite occurred at Robben Island and Dassen Island, in Western Cape.

Professor Doug Butterworth, of the University of Cape Town, said that, although there was broad agreement that prohibition had worked in Algoa Bay, it was not conclusive. "On Robben Island and Dassen Island ... the more fishing the better the penguins have done," Butterworth said.

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