The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Linefish Associations agree on interim solution
07 Jan 2014
Today, the Fisheries Management Branch of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) hosted a meeting with one of its key stakeholders - the Traditional Linefish Associations of South Africa, which represent commercial line fishers in the country.
The meeting followed the announcement made by DAFF on 30 December 2013 on the outcomes of the current allocations process known as the Fishing Rights Allocation Process 2013 (FRAP 2013). The fishing rights in the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) prawn trawl, demersal shark, squid, tuna pole-line, hake handline, white mussel, traditional linefish and oyster fishing sectors expired on 31 December 2013 and the DAFF, as required by law, carried out the FRAP 2013.
The gathering was a meeting of calm heads with the aim and intention to: (1) clarify the FRAP 2013 assessment and allocation process; (2) address the critical issues raised by the associations on behalf of their members; (3) discuss how the appeal process will unfold and; (4) how to find an interim solution for affected previous right holders who were unsuccessful and lost their rights.
DAFF and the Associations agreed that the unsuccessful previous right holders would be permitted to apply for exemptions in order to fish pending the outcome of an appeal process against the refusal to grant them rights.
DAFF would assess the exemption applications on an expedited basis in order to ensure that deserving applicants would be able to go to sea as soon as possible. In order to qualify for an exemption, the unsuccessful applicant had to fish the total number of days set out below over the period 2007-2012:
Cape Peninsula: 300 days
Gansbaai: 120 days
Struisbaai/Arniston: 120 days
Stilbaai: 120 days
Mossel Bay: 120 days
St Francis Bay: 120 days
Jeffreys Bay: 120 days
Port Elizabeth: 120 days
Port Alfred: 120 days
East London: 120 days
Southern KZN: 150 days
Northern KZN: 150 days
Both DAFF and the Associations have agreed that it was important that over and above the interim solution, consultations must continue throughout the appeals process in order to ensure the best outcome.
The Associations accepted that the department will send individual letters to applicants, containing the reasons for the decisions and the scores sheets pertaining to their applications, by the end of next week.
DAFF wished to thank all the traditional linefish associations for honouring Madiba's legacy of talking through problems. Our hard earned democracy was achieved as a result of consultation and dialogue. DAFF believes that both DAFF and the Associations have an important task of helping our people to understand the FRAP 2013 process and to ensure that it is a process which is inclusive, fair, transparent and legally defensible.
Statement issued by Alieya Haider, Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, January 7 2014
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