DA welcomes court ruling on fishing rights
24 April 2014
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.