In the wake of typhoon Hayian we have decided to publish a story a little ‘off topic’. Ok, a combination of poor building construction, overpopulation and geography have certainly played their part in this disaster, for which we are yet to establish an accurate death toll. But maybe this catastrophe is an early warning of big changes happening on planet earth, albeit somewhere out ‘there’ – far away from the sturdy house from which I publish this story. Not dissimilar to Hayian, African penguins (I still prefer the former name: Jackass Penguin) have a remarkable ability to show us what’s in store for us in terms of our future environmental health. Our ability to buy fish at our local supermarket in 20 years’ time for example. Similar to the old ‘canary in the cage’ early warning system, penguins can tell us alot about what is going on in that world below the water line – without us having to do too much digging. A handy helper we can use to our advantage, if we put a little effort into better understanding these charismatic animals. – JB
Written for Biznews by BirdlifeSA and Greenmatter*
The South African Health and Nutrition Examination Survey revealed that 45.6% of the South African population is food insecure, specifically in informal urban and formal rural areas. Almost half of our population goes to bed hungry every night! And yet we are concerned about species such as the African Penguin. Have we lost our minds?
The simple answer is NO. Protecting species of no perceived value, commercial or otherwise, may seem a luxury, but the endangered African Penguin is our early warning sign for environmental degradation. The African Penguin eats almost nothing but small ocean fish (e.g. anchovy, sardine and red-eye). When these fish begin to disappear from our oceans, the knock-on effect is often inconceivable. This may have gone unnoticed until it was too late, were it not for our feathered friends showing the symptoms in time for us to respond.
The effects of one species declining spreads through the food web faster than you can say ecosystem – from the hake and yellowtail fish that eat the smaller fish, to the sharks and tuna that eat those fish, to penguins, seals, dolphins, whales and people – all depend on there being sufficient little fish at the base of the food web.
The South African marine environment is under enormous pressure, and unfortunately, it is the least protected of all our natural systems, according to research undertaken by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and World-Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF). It has been impacted on by antiquated, single-species stock management approaches, political interference in setting quotas, climate change, increasing human population sizes and more.
But what other effects does the state of our oceans have on food security? Â In addition to supporting the commercial fishing industry (a direct source of food), it supports agricultural production (use of marine by-products), and economic growth (1.5% contribution to GDP).
High-protein and high-lipid-content fishmeal is used widely as a high-quality, organic fertilizer in the agricultural sector. Fishmeal is made primarily from two sources – as a by-product from offal and bones of fish, such as hake, or as the primary product from the industrial anchovy fishery based along South Africa’s West Coast.
Fishmeal is the primary feed used in many aquaculture operations (farming of fish) and is used commonly to feed poultry and pigs. So fisheries contribute not only directly to food security by providing protein (primarily through tinned sardines), but indirectly through underpinning agriculture. Another indirect impact on food security is the use of small fish that live near the surface of water (pelagic fish) as bait for commercial longline fishing operations.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations has set a target for expanding aquaculture to improve global food security. However, farming fish tends to be more expensive than catching wild fish, and so high-value, predatory fish (tuna and salmon) are targeted by commercially minded aquaculture operations. Yet these species require fishmeal (or pellets derived from meal). Although the current status of anchovy in South Africa is favourable, in strong contrast to sardines, the anchovy stocks fluctuate naturally for reasons that remain unclear, fishmeal may not be able to sustain aquaculture operations.
But finding creative and innovative solutions to such problems is no longer a purely “scientific” issue; it increasingly includes social and economic dimensions. In order to respond effectively to environmental threats such as those indicated by the iconic penguin species, South Africa is in need of cross-disciplinary experts and biodiversity professionals who can navigate varying contexts.
The relevance and quality of skills in current professionals and graduates is critical to the social dilemmas we are faced with. Despite sustained efforts of more than 23 universities in South Africa, we still need to diversify, grow and strengthen the body of environmental graduates and emerging leaders that South Africa so badly needs, as highlighted in the Biodiversity Human Capital Development Strategy (BHCDS). This includes marine specialists and as well as environmental lawyers, statistical ecologists and resource economists, to guide decision-making in how we manage our natural resources.
Improving our levels of food security relies on better management of our macro resources – financial, human and environmental. It is about time we stand up and realise how the poor management of our oceans and seabirds, that seem so unrelated, can have long lasting impacts on ensuring food security for a nation and ultimately OUR survival as the human species. The big challenge is for agriculture and life sciences to work closer together to develop innovative approaches to reduce food insecurity through sustainable marine and land resource management.
*BirdlifeSA is looking for corporate sponsorship to cover the cost of tagging the individual penguins as part of the study.
Get involved in the PengYin Trax game by visiting www.pengwintrax.co.za.  For more information visit www.birdlife.org.za and www.greenmatter.co.za
