EAF toolbox

Marine Protected Areas

Marine protected areas are both a fisheries management and a conservation tool. In many cases they have the dual benefit of improving the status of exploited fish stocks by re-seeding adjacent areas as well as conserving biodiversity, thus they are an integral part of an EAF tool box. Another WWF initiative, the Offshore Marine Protected Areas Project (OMPA) is facilitating the establishment of a network of marine protected areas in South African waters to increase the area currently under protection from only 0.2% to an ecologically representative area.

Bycatch mitigation methods

In most bycatch cases solutions do exist and it is unnecessary for animals such as seabirds to die in fishing operations. These solutions are often not expensive and easy to use. However, there is no one magic solution, but rather a number of measures that should be used together to reduce bycatch. The choice may differ from fishery to fishery depending on gear type, fishing operations and marine species involved. Smarter fishing is critical to ensuring a future for sharks, seabirds, turtles and fish.

Seafood solutions

Seafood typically follows a recognizable distribution, processing and marketing pattern from the fishing vessel where the fish is caught, to a processor, on to the retailer and finally to consumers (more recently,methods have been used to track fish products, such as the “chain of custody” or “catch documentation schemes”). As consumers become more aware of the impacts humans are having on the environment, so they begin to use their discretion when making the choice of which products to purchase. The Responsible Fisheries Programme is working closely with the Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative (SASSI).

By doing so WWF South Africa is working through the chain to provide a mechanism which enables the discerning consumer to purchase fish from sustainable sources and thus ensure the health of our marine
environment.

Eco-labels such as the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), gives the consumer the assurance that a product comes from a sustainable source and thus provides a market driven incentive for responsible fishing. The MSC works to safeguard the world’s seafood supply by promoting the best environmental choice. They do this by certifying fisheries that according to a set of principles, which are based on internationally accepted guidelines, are sustainable and well-managed. The South African demersal (bottom) trawl fishery targeting hake, for example, has received this certification. The Responsible Fisheries Programme aims to facilitate the certification of further South African fisheries.

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