SCUBA Diving Ban

[Skeptik]

December 05 2007 at 05:21AM

By Caryn Dolley and Sapa

A plan to ban scuba diving and snorkelling along most of the Cape coast is "ridiculous" and "will slowly but surely kill these recreational sports", outraged enthusiasts said on Tuesday.

The ban has been proposed by Environmental Affairs Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk in a further effort to protect the country's fast-diminishing perlemoen (abalone) stocks.

The envisaged prohibition, subject to a process of public comment, will take effect from February 1, Department of Environmental Affairs spokesperson Mava Scott said.

The suspension of commercial perlemoen fishing will come into effect on the same date.

The only area in which scuba diving and snorkelling will be allowed will be from Olifantsbos to Scarborough.

Jack van der Schyff, owner of Jack's Dive Chest, when told about the ban, said: "Now he's pushing his bans into our areas. Where do we go in the end? He is slowly but surely killing these recreational sports and the tourist diving industry.

"We'll probably end up sitting with our diving gear and nothing to do."

Co-owner of Dive Courses and Charters, Peter Labuschagne, said the proposed ban would be extremely damaging to the industry.

'Poachers will find a way to go about their business'
"We've done nothing but promote environmental awareness," he said. "We're one of the few industries that make our clients aware of the underwater environment. I can't see why the government is damaging our industry. It's a ridiculous ban."

He didn't see the point of banning diving in certain areas.

"The poaching problem is probably just going to get bigger. The demand for perlemoen will increase and poachers will find a way to go about their business," he said.

Skender Pedro of Table Bay Diving said a ban "would have a very bad effect on the diving industry" and Paul Hanekom of the Research Dive Unit at the University of Cape Town said he understood Van Schalkwyk banning scuba diving in poaching hotspots but the area around Dyer Island was popular for shark diving.

"This is going to cause a huge outcry. It's going to be a major issue in the shark-diving industry. (Van Schalkwyk) should either stop poachers or recreational divers, not both," he said.

Scott said all comments on the proposed ban would be considered before a decision was taken.

The areas in which diving may be prohibited include:

Bird Island Marine Protected Area; Quoin Point to Danger Point (from the west bank of the Ratel River along the coast to the eastern boundary of Gansbaai Harbour's main breakwater wall and extending two nautical miles seaward from the high-water mark); Dyer Island (extending one nautical mile from the high-water mark); Venus Pool to Olifantsbos (extending two nautical miles seaward from the high-water mark) and Robben Island (extending one nautical mile from the high-water mark).

The legislation will ban the use of certain equipment - including underwater breathing gear, masks, flippers and snorkels - within listed areas.

Scott said interested parties had until 4pm on January 15 to comment on the matter. Comments may be faxed to 021 402-3009 or emailed to [email protected].

Here we go! Heil Hitler! Friggin fascists making laws on the spur. Where was the consultation? They haven't learnt from the fishing ban reaction either.

 

[PeterCH]

.... but this is Mathinus v Schalkwyk in whom many people placed their trust in the previous elections - before he ran off to the ANC.

 

[Sneeky]

Kortbroek having yet another brain fart?

Instead of tackling the problem (the real criminal syndicates), they just exacerbate it by taken away from law abiding citizens.

The man is truly lost in his own little world.

I can take police and show them poachers, where they hide their stash in some places and give them pictures, but nothing happens!

Our nature reserves here are left open at night, no security. The reserves become the poachers sanctuary.

 

[dominic]

Here we go! Heil Hitler! Friggin fascists making laws on the spur. Where was the consultation? They haven't learnt from the fishing ban reaction either.

it is always fishy (...) when they issue a notice for public comment over the christmas break

i cannot see how they can possibly do this

 

[ic]

I'm struggling to understand the insinuation behind this ban on scuba diving:

1. Is the ban to prevent scuba divers from damaging the marine environment? OR
2. Is the ban to prevent syndicates from using scuba gear to extract perlemoen and damage the marine environment?

 

[Skeptik]

it is always fishy (...) when they issue a notice for public comment over the christmas break

i cannot see how they can possibly do this

Good point. If you want to pass through building plans, time the notice to come out Dec/Jan. No objections miraculously

I'm struggling to understand the insinuation behind this ban on scuba diving:

1. Is the ban to prevent scuba divers from damaging the marine environment? OR
2. Is the ban to prevent syndicates from using scuba gear to extract perlemoen and damage the marine environment?

A spokesman explained it today. They want to get people out of the water so that the only ones left are poachers! Now there's a solution that only MCM could have come up with.

IMHO SCUBA divers are very careful about the environment. It is also part of the PADI course. It would be foolish to alienate us in this way.

 

[diabolus]

1. Is the ban to prevent scuba divers from damaging the marine environment? OR
2. Is the ban to prevent syndicates from using scuba gear to extract perlemoen and damage the marine environment?

I'm wondering that too. It's very vague. If the ban is because of the Perlemoen poaching
how is a general scuba ban gonna stop anything anyway? They will STILL have to put security on those places to physically "catch" divers...

The REAL question here is : HOW DO THEY PLAN TO ENFORCE IT.

..and if you have security in place then guess what..you don't need to ban divers you can search the bags the diver just pulled from the water and fine him based on that .

If it's because of damage to the eco-system of something occurring , then proper clarification with some scientific research would go alot further. I can understand if we had some super sensitive coral reef and banning shark-cage activities there, but that is not what the article states.....

 

[HavocXphere]

So we kill the tourism industry and hope that it has a knock-on effect on the perlemoen syndicates. I guess they get points for lateral thinking...

 

[Skeptik]

I'm wondering if they really can legally stop anyone from just swimming in the ocean. They aren't fishing or even touching anything (usually), not even the bottom, so how can the government suddenly decide it isn't allowed?

 

[ic]

A spokesman explained it today. They want to get people out of the water so that the only ones left are poachers! Now there's a solution that only MCM could have come up with.

It has to be one of the dumbest ideas I've heard of, next they will be chumming the area to convince sharks to get the poachers out of the water.

 

[Sneeky]

Instead of spending R20bn on military hardware we dont need and cannot afford, R1bn would go a long way to equip the conservation effort with the necessary craft to patrol and protect our natural resources for future generations as well as secure the livelyhood of those that make their living from the sea.
The law abiding fisherman and pearly divers.