Red tide leaves fishing communities struggling to survive

Red tide strikes the West Coast as many as five or six times a year, according to Walter Steenkamp, chairperson of Coastalink Northern Cape and Aukotowa Fisheries, the first fishing cooperative established in South Africa in 2020. “The main cause of this red tide is overgrowth by plants in the ocean that take all the nitrogen and phosphorus in the ocean away and can kill marine life,” Steenkamp said. Affected marine life includes snook, caper, rock lobster and shellfish.

He warns that the long-term consequences extend beyond fish kills. According to Steenkapm, the decomposing algae release carbon dioxide, contributing to the greenhouse gases already driving climate change, and the disruption to food webs could affect fishing communities for years even after the red tide disappears. The latest outbreak has hit Elands Bay particularly hard.

The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) confirmed this week that red tide conditions have caused large-scale marine walkouts and mortalities, with significant numbers of West Coast rock lobster and other fish species washing ashore. The department has activated its West Coast Rock Lobster Walkout Contingency Plan, with officials removing and relocating live lobsters to areas with stable oxygen levels, collecting and disposing of dead marine life, monitoring oxygen levels and algal activity, and conducting scientific assessments of affected stocks. It warned the public that washed-up seafood is not safe to eat.

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“The time of death of these cannot be confirmed. Exposure to algal toxins and bacterial contamination poses a serious health risk. Consumption may result in severe illness or death,” the department said.

As desperate communities scramble to salvage what they can, authorities have moved to crack down on illegal harvesting. The South African Police Service (Saps) on Friday stated that it had issued an early warning to the Elands Bay community on Wednesday that arrests would follow for anyone found in possession of lobsters.

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