The DA welcomes the Western Cape High court’s ruling to grant line fishermen indefinite fishing exemption following the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries botched right’s allocation process earlier this year.

Of the 3 490 applications for fishing licences, only about 600 were granted in seven different sectors. Furthermore, only 215 applications for traditional line fishing licences were successful out of the 1 556 applications. Out of the 400 established traditional line fishing licenses, only 105 previous right holders were awarded fishing rights while 100 new entrants were also awarded rights. The rest of the applications were denied without explanation by the Department thus ending the sole source of income for hundreds of fishermen in South Africa.

It is clear that the Minister, Tina Joematt-Pettersson, lacks the political will to create employment within her sector. The Minister’s consistent refusal to provide reasons for her Department’s decision to refuse certain permits is completely unacceptable and is in breach of her Department’s own fishing allocation policies.

The apparent bungling of DAFF’s Fishing Rights Allocation Process (FRAP2013) has left thousands of previous rights holders unemployed and without the ability to provide for their families.
 
This court order is a great victory for our poor fishermen and will go a long way to save our fishermen’s livelihoods and prevent them from joining the ranks of the millions of South Africans who are unemployed in South Africa today.

The DA will continue to fight for the rights of fishing communities across South Africa. Our policy proposals are clear. The DA believes that:

• Fishing quotas must be allocated to individuals to avoid fronting and abuse. However, should a fishing community wish to have quotas amalgamated into a co-operative, this should also be recognised;
• Fishing quotas must be allocated to persons who fish their own quotas;
• Small-scale fishers must be allocated quotas in the vicinity where they live based on the internationally accepted Territorial User Rights Fishing (TURF) system so as to encourage responsible fishing and to reduce poaching;
• Small-scale fishing quotas must be allocated for long term periods in accordance with TURF so as to encourage ‘ownership’ of fish stocks, thus reducing uncertainty;
• The state must subsidise the costs of obtaining and maintaining small-scale fishery eco-labels so as to increase the value of these stocks, which in turn would reduce the need for larger quotas and illegal fishing; and
• The state must pay for the scrapping of unnecessary fishing capacity and must consider implementing a fishing right ‘buy-back’ programme to support the recovery of nearshore fish stocks.

By working together for change, we can create jobs and fight poverty in this sector.