Kob fishing ban welcomed to protect stocks – thanks to anglers for their support

Lack of water in Lake St Lucia has led to a concentration of Natal salmon, or kob, attracting more anglers than normal. Substantial catches threaten the sustainability of this species in the lake.
The Authority immediately took stock, and on October 3 the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Valli Moosa – acting in terms of Section 16 (1) of the Marine Living Resources Act - suspended kob fishing until further notice, a move welcomed by responsible anglers. Park managers thank anglers for their support and co-operation.
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National regulations are in the pipeline to decrease bag limits on certain over-exploited species including kob whose current limit is five.

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Planting seeds to improve lives

Gordon Fakude
The first harvest of fresh vegetables has been gathered in Mnqobokazi by a group of women farmers helped by the Authority to set up the Vukuzakhe community garden.
To them, the goal of food security even for the poorest is clearly achievable.
The Authority recently initiated small-scale agricultural projects in areas neighbouring the Park: Khula village (St Lucia), Nibela, Mnqobokazi and Kosi Bay.
One ha plots are prepared with some 30 farmers taking part in each project. Vukuzakhe community garden started from scratch after the local tribal authority council allocated some land. With help from the Authority, the group, mostly women, ploughed the land and planted, soon having their first harvest.
Most are poor subsistence farmers scraping a living. Like Mrs Mdletshe, taken out of school in standard one. (grade 3) Married with nine children, she normally weaves baskets and amacansi (mats). Now that she joined the community garden, she has been able to augment her income and improve her family’s nutrition. She believes fresh produce is a great help to the health of poor families, especially those affected by HIV/AIDS.
Mrs Ngwane, secretary of the garden, left school in standard six (grade 8), working mainly as a labourer in neighbouring nature conservation areas. She is married with three children. She augmented her income from sewing, but in 1999 joined the Working for Water poverty relief programme, first as a labourer, later training to become an emerging contractor. This has enabled her to access small contractor tenders with the department of Transport, working on the new road from Hluhluwe to Mocambique border. She is also the secretary of Vukuzakhe Emerging Contractor Association.
Her interest in joining the Vukuzakhe community garden has been because a desire to learn about agriculture as she believes the Mnqobokazi area has significant potential.
Both women believe people are increasingly attracted to community gardens because there is better crop security with fencing. Challenges ahead include raising the quality of produce to commercial standards: Phinda Game Reserve has been asked to assess produce and advise on the needs of their upmarket lodges. Another challenge is to improve irrigation: farmers are currently raising funds to run and maintain a mechanised pump.
The pilot community gardens in a few selected areas are already making a difference in many ways.

Drought Latest

Three months ago when members of the board of Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife visited the Park, these hippo were congregated in the little remaining water in Nsumu Pan in Mkhuze Game Reserve. But as the drought began to bite, the hippos left in search of water elsewhere; this dead buck in the same pan underlines the harsh reality.
In this water-stressed reserve, 23 rhino were moved onto the Eastern Shores of Lake St Lucia whose high forested dunes are a vital source of water. Next Issue: Special focus on Mkuze.

NEXT ISSUE: Special focus on Mkhuze

Drought affects the St Lucia estuary

Staffer

If you go to Lake St Lucia you will see wide beaches around the shorelines. This indicates how far the water level has dropped in recent months because of the severe drought.
Rainfall has been low and all rivers have been dry since early 2002. The estuary mouth closed in July 2002 – for only the second time since the drought of the early 1990s. This is usually related to drought conditions when the falling lake level causes an increase of sea sediments, choking the mouth. This is a natural event – one that has been recorded as occurring even in the 1800s.
However, since a separate mouth was dredged for the Umfolozi River in the 1950s (to prevent the sediments which are carried through the canals in the area from being deposited in what was formerly a combined St Lucia/Umfolozi mouth), the mouth is no longer self-scouring, and dredging is necessary.
When the mouth closed this time, salinity levels in the lake were relatively low. Had this not been the case, or if the mouth were open, extreme salinity would be occurring in much of the lake by now. However, the lake is in a very healthy state. Freshwater seeping from the groundwater forms small streams all along the Eastern Shores.
Although there is the option to open the mouth with the dredger, this is being delayed until there is evidence the drought is breaking. This is a cautious approach, as the ‘worst-case’ scenario is that the drought could persist for another two to three years.
The closed mouth prevents migrations of fish, prawns and crabs. However, these are of less importance to the long-term well-being of the ecosystem than the influx of sediments and extreme salinity conditions that would occur if the mouth were open during a prolonged drought.
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Though there has been average rainfall during September and October, there is still high salinity in parts of the lake. At Lister’s Point in False Bay, for instance, it is 79 parts per 1000 (the sea is 35 parts per 1000).