6. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
6.1. Introduction
5. Examine why Protea Bank sisnot a marin e prot ected area (M PA), and determin e wheth er there are anyindicationsthatitsho uld be an MPA, based onsta keho lde r opinions, and to asce rtain if otherconse rva tion measur es are need ed towards a managem entapproach for Protea Bank s.
6.2. Results of the study
A tot al of 15 semi-structured in-depth inter view s were conducted for this study (see Append ix I for further inform ation abo ut dates of the inter views, names of the inter vieweesand occ upationorother relati on to Protea Banks and marinetouri sm) .
The stakeho lde r inter view s provided primary dat a on which the result s are based upon . Field obse rva tion and informal conversation with local marin e users was a secondary method used for obta ining inform ati on about Protea Bank s and marin e touri sm. The sample meth od used in the study was mainly the maximum variety meth od.The meth od is not a rando m sample, but a selection of key repr esent ati ves in a cert ain setting or in relati on to a certa in phen omen on (May kut & Mor ehouse, 1994).
6.2.J. Objective J: The current user groups and direct stakeholders at Protea Banks Obj ecti ve I of the study was to identifythe current user groups and direct stakeho lde rs at Protea Bank s. The result s of the first objec tive deri ve fro m primary data from the interview s and obse rva tion at the study area and must therefore be consid ered as estimates. Theiden tified user gro upsare present ed in Table 6.2.1.
Table 6.2.1. Current user groups and direct stakeholder at Protea Banks
Usergroups and direct stakeholders at Protea Banks Number of operations/ people
Charterboat opera tors
•
(Es tima ted) 30•
(Es timated) 5active ona regular basisRecreati onal spo rt fish erm en
•
Over 300 member s at Shelly Beach Ski Boat Club•
(Estima ted) 14000 recreati on al fisherme n in KwaZulu-Nat alCommer ci alfishing ope ra tions
•
3Dive operators
•
3 operators based at Shelly Beach (2active on aregul ar basis)
•
Unknownnumber ofoperato rssporadica llyvisiting Protea Banks Whale and dolphin watching opera tors
•
One permitted operatorRecreati onal spear fishermen
•
UnknownThe charter boat fishin g touri sm industr y at Protea Banks is estimated to include 30 ope rators. However ,ther e are only an estimated five operators active on a regul ar dail y basis, including low season. During the high seaso n the number of charte r boat fishing operators is estimated to increase by up to 500% (from five to 30) compared to the number ofcha rterfishing boat s on a regular basis(Milton, 1111 0/2005).
The number of recreation alfishermen is estimated tobe around 14000 in KwaZulu-Natal
(M ann, 15/08/2005). The number of member s at the Shelly Beach Ski Boat Club has at
present time passed 300(Ge tz, 1011 0/2005).Therearethreecommer cial fishing ope rators in the area(Field notes, 2005).
There are three dive operators located at Shell y Be ach. Ther e are addi tiona l dive operators that utilise Protea Bank s on a less regular level. The externa l dive operators often collaborate with the largest and most active dive opera tor at Shell y Beach (Field notes, 2005).There is one permitted wha le and dolphin operator laun ching fro m Shelley Beach (Field notes, 2005).The number of recr eati on al spea r fishermen is estimated to be insignificantdue to the depth andcurre ntat Prot eaBanks (Fie ld notes,2005).
6.2.2. Objective 2: Marine tourism code of practices used by stakeholders at Protea Banks
Twouser groupsat Protea Banks follow speci ficcode ofpracti cesdevelop ed bythe users or operators the mse lves. The code ofpracti ces are informall y agree d upon ,but taken very serio uslyby the users (seeTable 6.2.2.fo ran overv iew of the code ofpractices).The code ofpractices were describ ed bythe stakeho lde rduring the stakeho lde r interview s and also obse rve datthe studyarea.
Table 6.2.2.Code of Practices developed by the direct stakeholders at Protea Banks User 2roup / stakeholder Code of Practice Principles e .~
Dive operators Safe typrocedures
•
Minimum le vel of divequalifica tion or experience requi red
•
Maximum 10 divers per dive•
Sea condi tionsconsiderations•
Experienced staff, skipper and crew•
Thorough pre-di vebrie fingDive operators Shark-di ver
•
No feeding or chumminginteracti on
•
No touchin g, chas ing, threaten ing orotherwise harassin g the sha rks She lley BeachSki Boat Sustainable and•
No ancho ring at Protea Bank s Club (rec rea tiona lsport respon sible ree ffish ermen ) fishing
•
Only boat the caught fish you will("Gentlemen's eatyourse lf and release other fish
agree ment") youcatch
•
Nobott om / reeffishingThe manne tourism user groups and the ir utilization of Protea Bank s are further describ ed in det ail insub-cha pter6.4.1.
6.2.3.Objective3a: The valueof ProteaBanks asa marine tourismresource
All the stakeho lders descr ibe Protea Bank s as unique in vario us ways. The reasoning behind stati ng that Protea Banks is unique differs from stakeho lder to stakeho lder, or maybe more spec ifically from user group to user group. Table 6.3.2. shows extrac tions from nine ofthe stakeho lderinte rviews relating to the value of Protea Banks as a marin e
touri sm resour ce . Protea Bank s as a marin e touri sm resource IS further discussed In chapter6.4.4.
Table 6.2.3.Stakeholders' opinions on the value of Protea Banks Stakeholders' opinion on the value of Protea Banks
"I have been fortun ate todiveman ytimes at Protea Bank s and I have dived
there along time. I have certainly done 20 or30 dives there.Saw shar kson a fair number of occasio ns. RaggedToothSharksin the winter,Zambezi Sharks and big Hamm erh eadsin the summer monthsand Icertai nlyenjoyed diving there.I thinkoneofthe attrac tionsof Prot eaBanks is to go and seebig fishand sharks. You knowthe reefitselfisnotthatprett y,there is very little cora l there, sothe invertebr ates on thereef are notreallymuch of anattrac tion, but wha tare attrac tive are the fish and the sharks".
"Pro tea Banks is prob abl ythe best express ionofa bigreef syste mon the who le of the KwaZulu-N atal coast".
"Thereare a larg enumber of different sha rk pits you may see onadive at Protea, which makes it particul arly exiting todivers" .
"Po tentia lly ProteaBank sis areal star in terms of opport unities for futureshark diving and I'd liketo see that de veloped andenco uraged, but in the sameway I would not liketo see the fishermen bein g excluded and bein g gi ven the short endof the stick. Theydo have alegit imateneed and req uire ment from the area and the solutio n needs to take both sides into account".
"Protea Banksrem ains unique.You can talk to people worldw ide and they want
at least some opportunity to see sharks. You might be unluck yand not see shar ksoneach dive,but you will eventuallysee shar ksand have a good exper ience. You never knowwhat otherexperiences you might have orother anima lsyou might see. You cango to othe r places,but you wi 11 not see apex pred ators as you do at Protea Bank s".
"In the summeryoucansee up to seven different sharkspec ies inone dive.That
is unique.Thereis no placein the world whe re youcangetsevenor more spec iesonone dive".
"ProteaBanksisreall ybecom ingknown as one ofthebest sha rk divesin the
world".
"It isimport antthat you can work togeth er even thou gh you have different interests.Thebott om line of the who le thingis thatin30-40years time our grand children mustbe able to see the same thingsthat we seetoday".
"Rec rea tiona l fishingisbetter than any psychi atri st.Recr eation alfish ermen go out forthe enjoyme ntof bein g on water. If youcatcha fish, it is abonu s.Ifyou donot catcha fish they are not worriedabo ut it" .
"Perso na lly I think it is one of the bestdive sites in the world".
"Ge nerally peopl e, especi ally the SouthAfrica n market donotreallyknow what theyhave got her e,theydo not really apprec iatewha t theyhave got here.They think itis justanother dive site. Igi ve ita coupleof years, it is going to geta lot bigger" .
"It is anexperience (fishing). You arealone out there.You are alone and thereis something to see, like a gia nt mantaray mightjumpoutorwha lesor dolphins.
Thereis something abo utgoingout to sea thatisdifferentto anyother sport,any other hobb y, youwith natur e".
"Fishing is a very great le vele r.You can have adoctor on the boat , youcan have any type of person on theboat. It doesnotmeanto say thatbecau se you have so much moredegreesthat youare going to catch abetter fish, youall become the same"
"W hateve ryougotany where in the world, or in South Africa for that matter , youactually have everything here (at Protea Banks)" .
6.2.4. Objective 3b:Stakeholders views on userconflict issuesand how theseissu escan beresolved
User con flict in a popul ar marin e tourism area is unfortunately a commonsituatio n. If it is not solved quicklythe dispute might de velop into an almost unsol vable andofte n very personal probl em affec tingall the users within a spec ificarea(Lew is, 1996).
The conflict at Protea Bank s between a char ter boat operator and a dive operato r has become a very sensitive and person al issu e whic h none of the stakeho lders feel comfortable discussin g.There are two very differing and person al views on the dispu te.
Due to the person al manner of the conflict, much ofthe data conce rning this matt er has notbeen includ ed in theresult s ofthe study.
All the stakeho lde rs were aware of this parti cul ar conflic t at Protea Banks. Non e of the stakeho lders belie ved there wi11 ever be a resoluti on to this con flictor any other posit ive
de velopment s conce rning this specific dispute in the near future. The confli ct has now bec om e a personal confrontati on, with which none of the other stakeholde rs wish to be associated.
Reg ardin g the issue of conflict 10 of the 15 sta keholde rs menti oned problem s with legi slati on ,regulations and the policin g authority during the interviews.One stakeho lde r stated that there are occas ional disput es concerning the use of the parking are a during peak season in December. Theseissues are furtherdiscussedincha pter6.4.2.
6.2.5. Objective 4: The stakeholders'opinion of shark management and conservation Fourof the inter view ees stated that there sho uld be a ban on shar k fishing overa llas itis unsustainable in the lon g term due to its fragile and vulnerable life cycle compare d to other fish.
Fou r ofthe stakeho lde rs(allrelated todiving) stated that the most import ant tool towards legi slati ve protecti on and conse rvation of shark as a spec ies is to raise public awareness and lobby for changes in the shar k fishery legislation . Public pressure is stated to be the ke y toward s change tow ards the protection of sha rks. The problem of shark legislation and sha rk fishery is further described by these stakeholde rs as an intern ation al probl em , as wellas a nationalissue within South Africa.
One ofthe interviewed stakeho lders stated satisfaction with the current shark legislation which is based on bag limits. Five of the stakeho lde rs stated that there is a gap in shark research in South Africa.
6.2.6. Objective5: Protea Banks as a marine protectedarea (MPA)
During the preparation and early stage ofthe study the expected outco meof the question whe ther or not Protea Bank s should becom e a MPA was belie ved to be closer to "in favour to" than "against". Howe ver, the results of the study, based on the sta keho lde r inter views showed the oppos ite (see Figure 6.2.6.).There were a total of 15stakeho lde rs inter viewed of whichone was entire ly in favourofestablishing Protea Banks as a marine
protected area. Nine of the sta keho lde rs were not in favour of Prot ea Bank s as a mar ine protected area.
Only one of the stake ho lde rs was entirelysupportive ofthethou ght of Protea Banks as an MPA as menti oned above .One imper ati ve factor was to invol ve the affected part ies and reach a solution that would ben efit all the users, while at the same time keep a focu s on ecosyste m conse rvatio n, raisin g marine environ menta l aware ness among the genera l public and protecting shar ks.
Figure 6.2.6. Stakeholders opinions on whether Protea Banks should be a MPA (n=15)
Yes
Noanswer
No
o
.:
2 4
.:
6
/
8 10
Nine ofthe sta keho lders were not in favo ur of Prot ea Bank s as a MPA. Three of these sta keho ldersemphas ize d the need to protec t and conse rve the shar ks at Prot ea Bank s, in add ition to on a nati on al and intern at ion al le vel. Two ofthe sta keho lde rs not in favour of the establish ment of an MPA menti on the need to protect the local ree f fish. Five ofthe stake ho lde rs stressed the import ance of increasin g public awaren ess abo ut the need for marin e conse rva tion, but not necessaril y by esta blishing a marin eprotected area . Three of the stake ho lde rs was worried that the establish me nt of an MPA at Protea Banks would result in too man y restrictio ns on marin e touri sm ope rators and therefore have more negati ve than positi ve effects on marin e touri sm in a lon g term perspect ive .One of the
nine sta keho lde rs not in favour of ProteaBanks as aMPA stated: "W hether Protea Banks is aMPAor not,it is alrea dy protect ed bythepeop le" .
The remaining five stakeho lders did not directl y answer the question , but stated that an MPA might possibl y be anoptio n in the future. However , all the five stakeho lders stated clearl y that if this is to happ en it would have to be a bottom up decision , based on stakeho lde rs' opinionsand need s. One ofthe stakeho lde rs menti oned the need for zoning within a potential MPA in orde r to allow for different user group s to continue using the area .
6.2.6.1.Stakeholders environmentalconce rnsat ProteaBank s and ShelleyBeach
The result s ofthe study found that the majorit y of the sta keho lde rs were notin favour of estab lis hing Protea Banks as a marin e protected area . However , the stakeho lders stated various enviro nmental concern s in association with Shell y Beach , Protea Bank s and marin e touri sm. The sta keho lde rs' environmentalconce rns are listed in table 6.2.6.1and further discussed insub-chapter 6.4.3.
Table 6.2.6.1. Stakeholders environmental concerns at Protea Banks and Shelley Beach
Environmental Concerns
Decreased frequency sighted sha rks during dives and gener al state of the shark population
Carr yingcapacit y at Protea Bank sduringpeak holid ay season The stateof the reeflbott om fish at ProteaBank s
Lack of enfo rce mentof existi ng fisherylegislation and poli cing
Safet y conce rnsand user conflicts duringpeak seasons byinexperi en ced skippers Dam age to the reefbydivers
Increased number ofcharte r fishin gboats
Future stateof the marin e environmentatProtea Bank s
Lack of knowled ge aboutsha rksand gaps inscientificshark research Over-fi shin g of game fish