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During a meeting that was held in the Fountains Hotel in Cape Town on 25 November 2015 with approximately 200 small-scale fishermen, the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries made the shocking announcement that they are going to take away the quotas being held by commercial abalone and crayfish fishermen and award it to small-scale fishermen. No quota holders were invited to the meeting, but a quota holder understood via an informant that a meeting was being planned and on his turn informed two other quota holders on short notice so that they could attend the vindictive meeting. 

The meeting was apparently the Department’s twisted idea of a public participation process that had the aim of determining how many of the commercial quotas can possibly be relinquished to small-scale fishermen without even informing or consulting the quota holders about their plans. Of the nearly 200 people who attended the meeting, only three were abalone quota holders.

Sue Middleton, the Department’s representative, announced with bravado to the astonishment of the three quota holders that the Department has plans to award 100% of the quotas held by quota holders to the small-scale fishermen. It was also announced, to the joy of the audience, that 40% of the West Coast crayfish quota will be awarded to the small-scale fishermen.

To shine more light on the unfairness of these decisions, it is important to understand the following: 

Per definition there does not exist something such as a small-scale fisherman. Everyone applying for quotas under this policy are new entrants to the fish industry. During the meeting it became clear that the Department has been making promises to award quotas to this group of prospective fishermen for more than 10 years.

Groups that attended the meeting included the “ANC Fishing League” and the “ANC War Veterans” (represented by a man that is barely 30 years old).

Members of the audience announced quite loud and aggressively that they specifically attended the meeting to claim their long-awaited quotas. A few other people said that they are from the Eastern Cape and as such refused in principle to address the audience in English. They subsequently delivered quite emotional speeches in Xhosa. The Department plans to make available 12 species to these fishermen. All of these species (except East Coast crayfish) are already involved in the commercial fish industry and all of these resources are also currently being exploited maximally. This new policy implies that literally thousands of new entrants will be allowed into the industry.

The existing quotas were awarded 11 years ago. During that time the Department already wanted to accommodate the maximum amount of fishermen, which led to each fisherman being given a quota and it was considered as the minimum financial viable amount. However, over the years the quotas have been cut quite considerably as the resources became depleted as a result of poaching (especially abalone and West Coast crayfish). Both abalone and crayfish quotas are currently only 60% of the size originally awarded. It is subsequently not feasible anymore as the only resource of income. Further thinning out of the quotas will present catastrophic consequences.  

Eleven years ago full transformation has already taken place in the abalone and West Coast crayfish industry. According to the Department’s own statistics, 90,5% of the current crayfish quotas and 79,5% of the abalone quotas have been awarded to previously disadvantaged communities. The process for the application for new quotas has just begun. The question which subsequently arises is what the value is to apply if the Department has already made a decision to award all rights to the small-scale fishermen? The Department has also made it known that they are planning to “sow” those areas where abalone has already been poached, with small abalones and that the current quota holders can subsequently harvest this new abalone. The current quota holders are also expected to train these new entrants on how to harvest abalone. This implies that the current quota holders will not only lose their quotas, but will also have to work for the new quota holders and offer training to them. 

“It is no secret that the economy of the coastal towns are already ruined due to the corrupt system used by Government to award quotas,” said Thomas van Dalen, AfriForum’s Provincial Coordinator for the Western Cape. He mentioned further that it led to large-scale poaching and the unprecedented escalation of drug smuggling in former progressive fishing communities that were impoverished by the system. “The future of the current quota holders is extremely dark, and it is expected that the occurrence of crime will increase drastically,” concluded Van Dalen.  

-       Discussion document attached.

Issued by AfriForum