Environment Minister Barbra Creecy says in order to give critically endangered African Penguins a better chance at breeding, her department has imposed an interim 10-year fishing limitation in waters around penguin colonies, including two sites in the Eastern Cape.
Creecy made the announcement on Friday after receiving a report from an expert panel review into the decline of African Penguin colonies around the coastline.
She says in a bid to address rising concerns about the decline, a decision was implemented to try and save the species from extinction.
“For the next 10 years, we will not allow fishing in the immediate surroundings of penguin breeding colonies. The African penguins is critically endangered and one of the factors is competition for food and so, in order to give penguins a better chance of reaching adulthood we are bringing in these limitations,” says Creecy.
Fishing around penguin colonies to be limited:
