Cape Town — The suspension of abalone commercial fishing will only come into effect in February next year, the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism has decided.

Cabinet last week supported the recommendation by the department to suspend abalone fishing from 1 November, but the date has been pushed back to allow the industry to continue through December and January.

This will ensure that fishing communities have a source of income over the festive season and the start of the new school term.

The department's recommendation was aimed at protecting the species and ensuring that future generations are able to enjoy it.

South Africa's abalone stock was described as "in a crisis and threatened with commercial extinction", by Government spokesperson Themba Maseko at the post-Cabinet briefing.

The industry has been subjected to sustained and widespread poaching over the years, given that the coveted and tasty shellfish fetches very high prices abroad, especially in the Far East.

A number of criminal syndicates, with international links, are believed to have been behind much of the widespread poaching which has led to a decimation of stocks.

Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said another cause for the decline in stocks was the migration of West Coast Rock Lobster into the abalone areas. Rock Lobsters consume the sea urchins that provide shelter to juvenile abalone.

This in turn subjects the juvenile abalone to increased mortality. Studies further show that unless decisive and immediate action is taken, the resource will collapse completely with little prospect of recovery.

"I remain of the view that the abalone resource is endangered due to ecological changes and poaching. Fishery is in a crisis and should be managed as an emergency.

"The closure of the abalone fishery is the right thing to do," he said.

Mr van Schalkwyk said there were currently 262 individual divers and 40 legal entities in the form of close corporations holding fishing rights. This accounts for 800 jobs.

Cabinet was also sensitive to the impact this decision will have on the livelihoods of many families in coastal communities and therefore approved a social plan to mitigate these impacts. "We will further engage communities on the plan," he said.

The minister explained that the plan includes the development of a sustainable marine aquaculture industry and the issuing of additional permits for whale watching and shark cage diving.

Mr Maseko last week conceded that it was not an easy matter for government to suspend abalone fishing, but added that government has the responsibility to "strike a good balance" between the species going extinct and the needs of communities living along South Africa's coastline.

While the suspension is indefinite, there is the possibility that the suspension could be lifted after a period of a few years should abalone stocks replenish themselves.