Fisheries: DA to introduce Private Members Bill
03 August 2014
The DA will introduce a Private Members Bill which will allow the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) to roll over the allocation of fishing rights for three years instead of having to renew every year.
This follows the announcement by Minister Senzeni Zokwana, on the extension of abalone fishing rights by exemption.
The extension allowed by the minister, is for a period of one year and will have to be repeated every year.
This situation does not afford abalone fishing rights holders the necessary financial security and will most likely affect their creditworthiness. There is the risk of banks and other financial institutions calling in loans and prejudicing rights holders because of DAFF's inefficiency.