DA urges Minister Creecy to act faster regarding fishing allocation processes
19 March 2021
The DA calls on the Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, Barbara Creecy, to act faster in ensuring the conclusion of the Fishing Rights Allocation Process (FRAP) by the end of 2021. This process was supposed to take place during 2020 and was due to include both written submissions and oral consultations from all stakeholders in the fishing industry.
Minister Creecy announced last year that the process would be delayed and that it would be completed by December 2021. It was also announced that the overarching legislation, the Marine Living Resources Act (MLRA) would subsequently be amended and that would only commence in 2022.
In response to a DA parliamentary question submitted last month, the Minister has advised that additional steps have now been taken to speed up the process. These include conducting an internal review process instead of waiting for the appointment of external contractors. These small steps must be welcomed, however if one looks at the proposed time frames provided for FRAP, it seems unlikely to be concluded by the end of this year as promised.
Whilst the initial draft is due to be published in May, there is significant public participation and other processes that then need to take place. Some analysts in the fishing industry have looked at the probable timeline for the rollout and suggested that this takes us to a potential conclusion of April 2022 at earliest.