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- Mop-up operations are continuing at Elands Bay Beach on the West Coast.
- About 500 tons of West Coast rock lobster walked out of the sea recently, while 30 tons were returned to the sea.
- The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment has urged the public not to pick up washed-up rock lobsters or fish.
A beach clean-up involving various stakeholders continues on the West Coast after about 500 tons of West Coast rock lobster walked out onto Elands Bay Beach.
The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment said no walkouts had occurred since last week.
Police spokesperson Warrant Officer Joseph Swartbooi said local police officers assisted in the clean-up operation.
"The officials have conducted continuous patrols in the affected areas. They had also done their bit when the lobsters were transported back into the ocean," added Swartbooi.
According to the department, there was potential for additional lobster walkouts or marine life dying due to anoxic [oxygen depleted] conditions in the water column that remained high for the foreseeable future.
Its spokesperson, Albi Modise, said:
According to the department, the lobster walkout was due to an unusual build-up of phytoplankton blooms in the greater St Helena Bay region over the past few weeks.
It said recent satellite imagery showed high levels of algae biomass remained between Cape Town and Paternoster and along coastal regions located between Lamberts Bay and Doring Bay.
Modise added about 30 tons of live lobster were returned to the sea.
"Rock lobsters are not toxic or 'contaminated' in any way and therefore do not pose a direct threat to humans. Lobsters that have walked out and died on the beach, however, do pose a risk because they start to rot very quickly after they die and lie in the sun on the beach," he said.
READ | SANDF, police assisting with clean-up after mass rock lobster walkout on West Coast
Abalobi social enterprise co-founder Nico Waldeck told News24 the walkout was "heartbreaking" for the fishing industry.
"This is people's livelihood. Those lobsters are food for the community. Many of them rely on these lobsters as a means of income, and to see so many of them washed up was devastating for us as the fishing community," said Waldeck.
"These lobsters do not pose any threat to humans or sea life. Rock lobsters walk out of the water because the water is starved of oxygen, and they are looking for more oxygen."
He added permits were provided to those who applied to catch lobsters legally.
Since the walkout, the department has urged the public not to pick up rock lobsters or fish.
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