Draft Policy on Boat-Based Whale and Dolphin Watching

The Department of Environmental Affairs has published the Draft Policy on Boat-Based Whale and Dolphin Watching for public comment. "Objectives and criteria as set out in this policy will guide the evaluation and allocation of permits in the boat - based whale watching industry to ensure that all eco- tourism related activities related to whales and dolphins are sustainable and effectively managed. 11 also provides an overview of the South African BBWW industry as well as opportunities to support biodiversity and socio- economic priority actions. The policy provides strategic objectives and actions needed to achieve the overarching goal of conservation and sustainable use.

Whale and dolphin watching in South Africa started in the early 1980s with BBWW operating unofficially in the early 1990s. It forms part of marine tourism sector benefiting economically and socially from accessibility of these cetaceans (i.e. Southern Right, Humpback and Bryde's whales and dolphins). It was then in early year 1999 that the Government responded to the need to officially regulate and manage these activities. In that year. the former Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism issued the first three year permits to undertake BBWW which was restricted to 20 designated areas around the South African coastlines with only one permit holder per designated area. Recognising the potential of this activity to generate considerable economic and social benefits for coastal communities; in the year 2008, the Department gazetted. 28 designated areas for potential BBWW as well as the number of permits that may be allocated per designated area. As a result, in 2011, the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) allocated BBWW permits valid for five (5) years to 23 BBWW operators."