Fishing rights should be restored until crisis is resolved
The DA will today request that the fishing rights of previous holders of permits be restored until the current crisis is resolved.
The apparent bungling of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries' Fishing Rights Allocation process has left thousands of previous rights holders unemployed. This will have a disastrous impact on already impoverished communities.
As it stands, of the 3 490 applications, only about 600 led to rights being granted in seven different sectors. Furthermore, only 215 applications for traditional line fishing were successful out of the 1 556 applications. From 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 were denied without explanation.
The Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Tina Joematt-Petterssons' 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.