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www.getaway.co.za 57
Trouble brewing
on the West Coast
At some point in just about any seaside holiday there’s a desire to splash out on
a lekker kreef dinner, but recent disquiet in the industry may make it a little harder
to swallow. By Cameron Ewart-Smith. Photographs by Cheryl-Samantha Owen.
ROCK LOBSTER
56 GETAWAY AUGUST 2013

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ROCK LOBSTER
A
chill wind whipped across the
waves, seeking mischief with
the crests. It tossed spray into
the air from the bow of our
little lobster boat and
slapped a loose rope against the derrick
with a tinny ting-ting-ting; not satisfied,
it sneaked through the oilskins of the
crew as they gathered to raise the first
trap of the day.
Hardened by a lifetime at sea, the
crew was too intent on a small green
buoy floating in the waves to mind the
cold wind. While the skipper danced
the boat closer, the boson nonchalantly
raised an arm to indicate the direction
of the line that linked the bobbing
marker with the lobster trap on the
reef below. A small grappling hook
sailed through the air, snagging the
line, and we began to pull.
So begins the journey to your plate of
one of the world’s great epicurean pleas-
ures – lobster, or more accurately on the
west coast of South Africa, rock lobster.
Locals call them kreef, but whichever
name you choose, it’s synonymous with
posh. It’s what you serve when you’re
putting on a show or trying to impress.
It’s sought after for high-status Japanese
weddings and restaurant menus list it as
SQ. The world over, it’s expensive and
decadent and delicious … and in trouble.
A LONG-ACQUIRED TASTE
By all accounts, the gastronomic infatu-
ation with lobsters has been long and
capricious. Evidence suggests that both
ancient Roman and Greek civilisations
enjoyed these shellfish and they make
an appearance in writings dating back
to Tudor times in Britain. However, they
weren’t always celebrated. There are
many reports that the original settlers in
Maine on the USA’s east coast consid-
ered lobster to be poor man’s grub and
there’s anecdotal evidence suggesting it
was of little gastronomic importance in
the early days of the Cape as well (we
know rock lobsters were crushed and
used as fertiliser during this period).
Early settlers aside, archaeological
evidence clearly shows the average
size of lobsters along the South African
coast today is very different to what
they were. ‘If one examines the 2000-
year-old shell middens along the coast,
the average size of the animals the
strandlopers were catching was enor-
mous. Possibly as much as double the
average we see today,’ Professor George
Branch of the University of Cape Town
told me over coffee in Kalk Bay, a small
harbour town complete with a number
of lobster boats. Professor Branch is no
stranger to rock lobsters and has been
enjoying them since he was a young
student catching his quota as often as
possible through the season (five a day
back then). He’s arguably the country’s
pre-eminent marine biologist, despite
nearing the end of his career, and is
one of the longest-standing members
of the rock lobster scientific working
group that gathers each year to assess
the health of the West Coast rock lobster
stock and set quotas for the season
ahead. Unfortunately, this group is
becoming increasingly concerned.
‘One of the great strengths of South
Africa’s rock lobster fishery is the way
that it has been managed,’ says Profes-
sor Branch. ‘And South Africa is a world
leader in the co-management practices
we’re following.’ Co-management is a
complex assessment process in which
all parties involved in catching and ex-
ploiting rock lobster – large commercial
fishers, small-scale fishers, subsistence
Whichever name you choose, lobster is
synonymous with posh. It’s expensive and
decadent and delicious … and in trouble.
PREVIOUS SPREAD: A commercial West Coast rock lobster fishing boat, the James Archer, leaves Saldanha Bay s harbour before the break of dawn, the lights of the
town flashing in the distance. LEFT: After winching up a trap from the Atlantic s seabed, a crewman from the James Archer releases a full catch of lobsters.
LOBSTER, CRAYFISH, KREEF
Only lobsters with real claws such
as those found off the east coast of
North America and in Europe should
be called ‘lobster’, and people in the
know I spoke to looked decidedly
uncomfortable every time I used the
name ‘crayfish’, which is likely bor-
rowed from ‘crawfish’ in reference to
the fresh-water relatives enjoyed in
America’s deep south. While they’re
fondly referred to locally as kreef or
crays, officially they should be called
West Coast rock lobster.

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ROCK LOBSTER
or relief fishers, recreational fishers and
scientists – are consulted when deciding
on how many tons can be caught, also
called total allowable catch (TAC). This
group is best placed to prescribe how
many lobsters may be taken without
destroying the resource for future gener-
ations. It uses data from the rock lobster
fishers themselves, growth rate meas-
urements of animals and carefully
designed, scientific survey catches. It
was on one such annual cruise that
I sought out Danie Botha, one of the
Department of Agriculture, Forestry
and Fisheries’ (Daff) foot soldiers
researching West Coast rock lobster.
‘The thing to realise is that the re-
source is heavily depleted,’ Danie said
as he measured lobsters with practised
hands. ‘It’s currently estimated that num-
bers of rock lobster on the West Coast
are perilously low at only three percent of
their original pre-exploitation or pristine
levels.’ That realisation and concerns of
the long-term viability of this valuable
fishery – rock lobster alone contributed
some R550 million to the Western Cape
in the 2011-2012 season – has resulted in
an ambitious plan to rebuild the stocks.
The plan calls for a reduction in the
tonnage of rock lobster that could be
caught and predictably resulted in mut-
terings within the industry. Responding
to pressure, the minister of Fisheries’
office bypassed scientific best practice
and decided to leave the allowed catch
unchanged for the 2013 season. Then
all hell broke loose, with accusations
and counter accusations flying between
government, scientists, journalists and
concerned independent observers. Like
any good fight, cooler heads prevailed
after the dust settled and minister Tina
Joemat-Pettersson, claiming she’d been
unaware of the actions of her office’s
minions, sensibly confirmed the required
reductions in the allowed catch would
be made in 2014. While damage has
been done, it’s not irreversible.
WHAT’S THE CATCH?
The spat hasn’t gone entirely unnoticed.
Marine conservationists round the world
are becoming increasingly concerned
with the state of the world’s fish stocks
and management disputes such as this.
Enter the Southern African Sustainable
Seafood Initiative (Sassi). You’ve proba-
bly heard of Sassi, but for those who
haven’t, this organisation under the aus-
pices of the World Wild Fund for Nature
– South Africa (WWF-SA) has embarked
on a public awareness campaign that is
a world first. It has identified fish through
a process of colour coding that allows
environmentally aware consumers to
make more informed purchasing deci-
sions: species on the red list are threat-
ened and consumers are encourage not
to eat them; orange indicates a fish that
is of some concern (think twice about
buying); and green fish are well managed
and can be enjoyed with a clear con-
science (best choice). Restaurants in par-
ticular have taken to the Sassi system
and these days any responsible (possibly
LEFT, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: John Kirkpatrick pulls up a juicy haul of West Coast rock lobsters from his yellow kayak off Kommetjie. He usually waits about 20 minutes
before pulling up the trap, but it s always a gamble as to whether or not the lobsters have taken the bait; a SANParks law enforcement official inspects the permit of a
recreational fisher. The ongoing and rampant poaching presents a big challenge to the sustainable utilisation of lobster stock; law enforcement confiscated more than
300 illegally caught West Coast rock lobsters, which were found in a poacher s vehicle. The lobsters are bagged and frozen in the Saldanha Bay police station and will
be used as evidence in court; size matters and recreational fishers must ensure the lobsters they catch have grown to at least 80mm and aren t laden with eggs.
WHAT’S REALLY GOING ON DOWN THERE?
The unfolding resource-management drama may well be snagging the headlines,
but there are also fascinating biological changes afoot in the oceans washing the
shores of the Cape West Coast, according to marine biologist Professor George
Branch. ‘For a number of years now two overarching patterns have emerged in
the biology of rock lobsters: they aren’t growing as fast as they used to and there
have been rapid changes in their distribution, which represents a migration south
and along the coast east of Cape Point towards Cape Hangklip. These movements
are having dramatic ecosystem-level impacts on the underwater environments,’
says Branch. In all likelihood the shifts are in response to a combination of global
climate change and overfishing.
CATCH YOUR OWN
Hopefully changes to the
legislation shouldn’t affect
recreational fishers too much.
You’ll still have to purchase
a permit from your local
post office and abide by the
current rules. For example,
diving is allowed only on
weekends, unless otherwise
specified during season
(usually November to April
but watch the daily press for
confirmation). You may not
catch in the specified marine
reserves along the coast nor
in the rock lobster sanctuary
that encompasses all of Table
Bay. The best places to catch
rock lobster are Cape Hang-
klip, Cape Point Reserve
(additional permits are re-
quired from SANParks) and
Elands Bay (stay at Elands
Bay Guesthouse, www.
elandsbayguesthouse.co.za).

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ROCK LOBSTER
that should read decent) eatery and en-
vironmentally conscious supermarket
complies with its recommendations.
Sassi recently changed its assessment
of West Coast rock lobster from green to
orange and I understand it very nearly
switched all the way to red. ‘We support
science-based management decisions
that are participatory and consultative,’
says Janine Basson, WWF-SA’s Sassi
Manager: Consumer Awareness and
Outreach. ‘Until now rock lobster has
been well managed, but we’ve become
increasingly worried about its status
following the recent debacle over
quotas, which is inherently a departure
from the best management practices,
the worryingly low numbers compared
to estimates of what the pristine en-
vironment would have contained and
the ongoing, rampant poaching that is
happening along the coast.’
In evaluating its decision to down-
grade rock lobsters to orange (from
green) Sassi consulted widely with gov-
ernment, social scientists, the fishing
industry and marine scientists to ensure
the correct outcome was reached.
‘Critically, one thing consumers need
to know is that they can have a dramatic
say in the way we manage fragile re-
sources such as rock lobster – their
purchasing decisions have direct impacts
on the decision-makers,’ says Basson.
However, it’s a long way from the
corporate boardrooms to the fishing fleet
that sets out each morning into the wilds
of the Atlantic in search of their catch.
The relentless wind on board the
research cruise eventually drove me off
the deck and into the small cabin behind
the wheelhouse. And as I watched the
crew huddling out of the elements in the
forecastle sharing a cigarette I wondered
what these changes mean for them and
VISIT THE WEST COAST
The best season to visit the West Coast is spring, when the famous flowers put on a show that’s widely acknowledged as one
of the world’s great botanical spectacles. Popular coastal spots to stay include Elands Bay (take your surfboard and wetsuit),
Tietiesbaai (great for camping) and Paternoster, which is well suited to laid-back family weekends. To find accommodation in
these towns – or anywhere else along the West Cost – visit accommodation.getaway.co.za.
EAT HERE
Sassi leaves it up to consumers to decide on how sustainability conscious they wish to be.
For information on the status of any fish, download the Sassi app for your smartphone or
send the name of the fish as a text message to the number 079-499-8795 and you’ll get a
prompt response telling you whether to tuck in, think twice or avoid altogether. A number
of restaurants on the West Coast specialise in rock lobster. For a relaxed, family meal out,
try Muisbosskerm (tel 027-432-1017) near Lambert’s Bay, about three hours from Cape
Town. Closer to the Mother City is Die Strandloper on the beach near Langebaan
(tel 022-772-2490) and Paternoster has a number of good restaurants – I recommend
Gaaitjie (tel 022-752-2242), which is about as close to the sea as you can get.
In Cape Town, try OYO Restaurant and Cocktail Bar (tel 021-419-6677)
well known in the V&A Waterfront for its speciality: lobster lunch.
indeed communities along the entire
West Coast. Will local markets eschew
South African lobsters? And what of
export markets, will they be spooked
into sourcing less threatened stocks?
It’s too early to tell. But this is kreef
we’re talking about. Kreef, one of the
iconic threads that runs the length of
the West Coast. Hopefully, its not an
ill wind that’s sending shivers through
the industry…
LEFT: On New Year s morning a free-diver hand caught
his quota of West Coast rock lobsters; by sunset they
were sizzling on a braai overlooking Smitswinkel Bay.
BELOW: Chef Craig Peterson entices customers with a
plate of fine rock lobster cuisine at OYO Restaurant in
Cape Town s V&A Waterfront. BELOW RIGHT: Living
West Coast rock lobsters await their fate in Cape Town
Fish Market s tank. Diners who choose lobster are pre-
sented with a price-tagged (alive) lobster. If the weight
and price are agreeable, the crustacean is marched off
to the kitchen (www.ctfm.co.za).