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Much has been written about the fact that the recreational lobster fishery has had its quota slashed by 17% to 69 tons or 21 days of fishing. There is little doubt that the economic impact of such a curtailment in the recreational fishery will be felt across the coastal Western Cape economy as recreational fishermen decide to not service their boats, purchase new wetsuits, gear and equipment, or confirm holidays in coastal villages from Paternoster to Arniston.  Of course the Fisheries Department has never undertaken any form of socio-economic research into the social and economic impacts of its decisions despite it being legally obligated to in terms of its theoretical adherence to a policy of "ecosystems approach to fisheries management".  I have estimated that the reckless introduction of the interim relief lobster sector over the past 8 seasons has cost the South African economy more than R600 million in direct TAC losses. That is a frightening number. The ecolog...

Feike receives dozens of reports from members of the public and abalone right holders who try and report incidences of abalone poaching but only end up being frustrated by the Department of Fisheries' refusal to stop the scourge of poaching. An abalone right holder recently narrated two such incidences in October this year alone, which epitomise the failure of the department and frustration of law-abiding abalone right holders who are literally having to watch their livelihood being stolen from them by blatant illegality and mind-boggling incompetence or corruption or both. One cannot but ask: Are DAFF officers part of the abalone poaching syndicates? 13 October 2014 I drove past Harderbaai in Onrus river. Spotted 9 divers in the water. Phoned DAFF in Hermanus, time 18h55 . They said  they knew about them . Followed up next morning, no arrests or confiscations were made. DAFF’s response was that they did go to the scene, but the people were all ready in the water, so they cou...

The Department of Fisheries has extended the fishing season to 31 October 2014 for Zone G1  right holders only. The granting of the season extension follows a written request by a Zone G right holder who requested an extension to the season until such time as quotas were harvested. The Department refused to allow an open-ended time frame noting that the 2014/2015 season is set to commence on 1 November 2014. The TAC for the upcoming season must still be determined. The abalone industry has motivated for a 160 ton catch allowance while the department has proposed a 43 ton TAC.

The Department of Fisheries is proposing another annual substantial reduction to the annual recreational lobster catch and effort limits. Just two seasons ago, the catch limit was 183 tons or 67 days of fishing spread over the period 15 November to 15 January and 6 April of the following year to 9 April. The current proposal confirms that the catch limit will be reduced to 69 tons or 21 days of fishing. The only aspect still up for discussion is the spread of the fishing days. The Department has proposed three possibilities: Option 1: 21 fishing days November: 6 fishing days (15 to 16 November / 22 to 23 November / 29 to 30 November) December: 4 fishing days (20 to 21 December / 27 to 28 December) January: 5 fishing days (1 January / 3 to 4 January / 17 to18 January) February: 2 fishing days (7 to 8 February) Easter weekend: 4 fishing days Option 2:   21 fishing days November: 4 fishing days (15 to 16 November / 29 to 30 November) December: 5 fishing days (16...

The South African abalone industry, representing some 300 small-scale commercial abalone divers, has unanimously rejected the department's proposed 43 ton annual catch limit for the upcoming 2014/2015 fishing season.  In a brief note addressed to the Deputy Director-General of Fisheries, Mr Mortimer Mannya, and copied to his boss, the Director-General of DAFF, Prof Edith Vries, the industry records their opposition to the proposed 43 ton TAC on the following bases: 1. Right holders had previously provided a comprehensive submission explaining why a 43 ton TAC would not make rational management sense. It appears as if this submission has not been read or understood according to the email.  2. The proposed reduction to the TAC "fails to comprehend" that the single greatest threat to the viability of abalone stocks is the illegal fishery and not the legal fishery.  3. The Department continues to not implement an anti-paoching initiative and accordingly the d...

The Fisheries Department finally issued exemptions to those oyster right holders who were not re-allocated their rights during the failed and unlawful 2013 fishing rights allocation process.  The issuing of exemptions - on (or about) 9 October 2014 - meant that for some 10 months oyster harvesters were forced into poverty or illegality as DAFF refused to allocate these harvesters their exemptions despite acknowledging that the FRAP 2013 was unlawful back in April 2014.  And the only reason these exemptions were issued is because one former right holder approached the Human Rights Commission for assistance. DAFF similarly only issued exemptions to abalone right holders after the Public Protector became involved. And relief for the line fishers came only after a court order and unprecedented public anger and outcry.  DAFF continues to ignore tuna and demersal shark harvesters who were not re-allocated their respective fishing rights in terms of FRAP 2013. The m...

The Fisheries Department issued an email to the representatives of abalone right holders on 1 October stating that it is considering allocating a 43 ton catch limit for the 2014/2015 abalone season which commences on 1 November 2014.  The most relevant part of the email issued by DAFF states that -  "The recommendation is based on the management objectives of preventing the abalone spawning biomass in each zone to drop below 20% of its pre-exploitation level and to ensure that it recovers to 40% of that level within 15 years (i.e. by the 2024/2025 season). The recommendation to achieve a 40% recovery goal is coupled with a targeted 15% reduction per annum in the current level of poaching for a period of 15 years.  The recommendation for the abalone TACs for zones A and B are as a result of notably declining trends in Catch Per Unit Effort (CPUE) over past four years and a decline in densities of abalone in zones C, D and F. The decrease in abalone TACs for zone ...