A leading fisheries activist says Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Department deputy director-general Siphokazi Ndudane has wasted an opportunity to provide relief for small-scale and near-shore fishers at a meeting yesterday over the West Coast rock lobster
fishing rights allocation process.
Minister Senzeni Zokwana called for the follow-up meeting when he met fisher representatives after they had called for Zokwana to meet them within seven days.
This follows unrest and violent protests in Hangberg, Hout Bay, with the community joining protests to highlight housing and service delivery struggles.
Ten fishing organisations had marched to the department's offices at the Foreshore last week, demanding the immediate suspension of the West Coast rock lobster
fishing rights allocation process.
The issues addressed at the meeting included the recommendation to cut the Total Allowable Catch (TAC), the allocation of fish for small-scale fisheries in the period prior to the 2010 Fishing Rights Allocation Process (FRAP) and a proposal to suspend allocations on rock lobster and abalone.
SA United Fishing Front chairperson, Pedro Garcia, said: “We felt that the deputy director had ducked and dived on some issues, but more importantly had an opportunity to make a decision on the West Coast rock lobster.
"If there are to be cuts in the allocations of rights, those should come from the larger commercial fishing companies.”
Ndudane said there was a false assumption that protests were about the reduction of TAC for the West Coast rock lobster.
“Our scientific working group submitted a recommendation to the department calling for the reduction of the TAC of rock lobster, as there was pressure on the species.
"This occurred over the past two rock lobster fishing seasons, where we did not make the decision to reduce the TAC by more than 30% and there was no uproar or celebration by the fishers.”
Ndudane said those decisions had resulted in the WWF red-listing the species and this was a factor the department had to consider, as well as the socio-economic impact on fishing communities.
The department knows that many fishing communities struggle with policies they have set in place, said Ndudane, but the department is committed to to serve the 300 fishing communities on the country's coastlines.