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If ever an appellate authority remained committed to repeating a comedy of errors, the Minister of Fisheries' repeated unlawful and irregular decision-making processes in the hake inshore trawl and sole fishing sectors are cases in point. Bad decisions in law and fact were made repeatedly since July 2017. The comedic errors are of course far from funny. These bad decisions simply annihilate any confidence left in the beleaguered fisheries regulator. They harm legitimate private capital interest in the sector. Instead, what we do see is an increase in illicit capital looking at ways to launder their cash and bribe their way to fishing rights.  These bad decisions have a profound negative impact on right holders trying to keep people employed and ensuring investments return a decent income.  The question is, given these multiple unlawful decisions, a multiplicity of review applications and adverse orders against the Fisheries Minister (the only hake inshore trawl fisher...

On 19 February 2020, the National Prosecuting Authority addressed correspondence to the Fisheries Branch seeking urgent clarification as to whether the Fisheries Branch has -  1. Ringfenced the US$7.45 million (±R111 million) that were repatriated by the Government of Jersey (United Kingdom) for the purpose of investing the monies for the singular objective of recovering depleted fish stocks, particularly West Coast rock lobster; and 2. Established the required Marine Living Resources Fund sub-accounts into which the repatriated funds would be transferred; and 3. Established the Project Implementation Committee, responsible for overseeing the implementation of the marine living resources recovery projects which would be funded by the "Bengis Funds".  The NPA reminded the Fisheries Branch that it has been more than 6 months since the Jersey Government had transferred these funds and the Governments of Jersey and the United States require an update as to whethe...

It is incredible! The Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries has now apparently issued her appeal decisions which have been outstanding since August 2019 when Minister Zokwana's fourth set of decisions in the hake inshore trawl and sole fishery were reviewed and set aside by the Western Cape High Court. What is patently obvious is that we seem completely content to rely on appallingly bad legal advice. The extent of the illegality of this decision is actually quite breathtaking. In December 2018, Minister Zokwana decided to allocate a total of 36 hake inshore trawl and sole fishing rights. Of these, 17 were granted to existing or historic right holders. The remaining 19 rights were allocated to new entrants. Zokwana's decision in December 2018, followed an unlawful July 2017 decision which was reviewed and set aside on at least 3 separate occasions. These 19 new entrants had in the interim entered into various types of commitments to have their 15-year fishing righ...

In early August 2019, this Blog addressed the most recent set of Ministerial fishing rights appeal decisions set aside by a court of law. This was the fourth time a court of law reviewed and set aside appeal decisions in the hake inshore trawl fishery sector.  The Western Cape High Court unambiguously ruled in early August 2019 that -  1. The Minister's appeal decision of 10 July 2017 for the Hake Inshore Trawl Sector stands and is of full force and effect insofar as it establishes that Category A right-holders will share 70% and Category B and C right-holders will share 30% of the total allowable catch for the Hake Inshore Trawl fishery; 2. The First Respondent's appeal decision of 7 December 2018 is reviewed and set aside in its entirety; and the Category B and C appeals are remitted to the First Respondent for her to reconsider allocating 30% of the total allowable catch in the Hake Inshore Trawl fishery to these new entrants. The Minister has yet to even c...

In the same week that Cabinet had decided to unlawfully "extend" the validity period of commercial fishing by at least 12 months, the Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, Ms Barbara Creecy, affirmed her continued support for the ongoing allocation of fishing rights to fishing co-operatives that have to date all failed.  Feike has written extensively about the extent and history of fishing co-operative failures in South Africa; how they have contributed to and fuelled community conflict, resource destruction (what more evidence than the complete collapse of lobster is required); and how they fail to contribute to any form of coastal social or economic growth. Poverty, conflict and unemployment in all coastal villages that have been historically associated with high value nearshore fisheries have increased in the last decade. Poaching has increased massively and we have seen the collapse of abalone and lobster resources over the same period.  Every fishing ...

On 8 December 2019, the Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries announced that "Cabinet took a decision on Wednesday, 4 September 2019, to extend the timeframes for dealing with the fishing rights in twelve commercial fishing sectors which will expire on 31 December 2020." The statement further recorded that: "The twelve sectors that are due for allocation in terms of Section 18 of the Marine Living Resources Act, 1998 are: KZN Prawn Trawl; Demersal Shark; Tune-Pole Line; Hake Handline; Line Fish; White Mussels; Oysters; Squid; Small Pelagics (Pilchard and Anchovy); Hake Deepsea Trawl; Hake Longline; and South Coast Rock Lobster. ... The FRAP process will therefore be extended until 31 December 2021.  During this time, the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF) will conduct socio-economic impact analysis studies on the General Policy on the Allocation of Commercial Fishing Rights, as well as the 12 Sector-specific polices." We have st...

Subsequent to Minister Zokwana's legally flawed appeal decisions of December 2018 in the hake inshore trawl fishery, two review applications were brought by right holders in the Category A & Category B sectors (Case number 3330/19) ("the Seavuna matter") and one by Letap Fishing CC (Case number 400/2019).  The Seavuna matter was finally conceded by Minister Barbara Creecy in early August 2019. Given the concession by the Minister in the Seavuna matter, she will undoubtedly have to concede the review application by Letap Fishing CC as well. The terms of the order in the Seavuna matter are brief and simple and as follows: 1. The Minister's appeal decision of 10 July 2017 for the Hake Inshore Trawl Sector stands and is of full force and effect insofar as it establishes that Category A right-holders will share 70% and Category B and C right-holders will share 30% of the total allowable catch for the Hake Inshore Trawl fishery; 2. The First Responden...