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The DA has Failed Fisheries

In July 2024, the DA was gifted executive control over the Fisheries & Environment department when they joined the Government of National Unity. Unlike any other political party, the DA had an extensive and detailed policy on the management and governance of fisheries and oceans . Instead, over the past 18 months, the Democratic Alliance has squandered the opportunity so comprehensively that it boggles the mind.  Instead of even basic changes to governance that could support and promote economic growth in fisheries, the DA elected to continue implementing destructive and anti-fisher policies and litigation.  The DA keeps talking about fostering economic growth and reducing unemployment (like the ANC) but like the ANC, when loaned power by the electorate, it has chosen failure instead.  We are witnessing the catastrophic mismanagement of the Foot and Mouth Disease and the procurement of vaccines by the DA's leader himself as the Minister of Agriculture.  Is the DA...
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THIS IS DA FISHERIES POLICY: NOW ABANDONED BY THE PARTY WHEN IN GOVT

What follows is actual DA policy on fisheries, which I wrote for the party back in 2013/2014. This remains the party's formal and actual policy position on the sector and yet despite having now overseen the SA fisheries sector since July 2024, the party has failed to even start with implementing the most basic elements of THEIR OWN POLICY.  So, why vote for a party that refuses to even implement its own published and adopted policies, which they tell voters is what they as a party believe in and will carry out.  The actual policy document is titled " DA POLICY ON NATURAL RESOURCES: ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS, FISHERIES, WATER MANAGEMENT AND MINERAL RESOURCES " and accessible by clicking the link.  What the DA has done since July 2024 is implement ANC fisheries policies and ensured that bad decisions  taken by Creecy continue in force.  Bizarrely, the DA has even published a draft "transfer of fishing rights policy" which is completely fixated on race being the key cr...
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What to do with a problem called ABALONE?

 South African abalone is once again in the spotlight. The question is whether the latest fisheries minister - Willie Aucamp - is going to have gonads to actually put measures in place to fix South Africa's unchecked abalone poaching and corruption crises.  What can Minister Aucamp do? What is incredible is the fact that he can put in place a suite of measures rapidly that will massively reduce poaching in the immediate term and benefit small-scale abalone divers from Paternoster to Pearly beach who are historically reliant on abalone.  1. Increase the abalone TAC from 12 tons (!!) to ±600-700 tons and strictly implement and enforce the TURF management system. Have legal abalone divers displace illegal divers by keeping legal divers in the water for the maximum duration of the annual abalone season. 2.   Allocate long term 15-year duration fishing rights to abalone divers who have been without rights since 2013. This will ensure a sense of "ownership" and further ens...
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ABALONE, CITES II & THE SUDDEN LISTING REMOVAL

South Africa was scheduled to have dried abalone (only) listed on Appendix II of CITES at COP 20 which was held in Uzbekistan until 5 December 2025.  It has emerged that the SA delegation abandoned the listing proposal at the 11th hour and environmental organizations like the EMS Foundation are speculating about possible nefarious reasons for this last-minute decision linking it to the newly appointed Fisheries Minister and his apparent anti-conservationist stance (especially since Dion George has now magically labeled himself to be a "conservationist").   [To digress, Mr George, the great "conservationist", increased the lobster TAC by 58% despite lobster stocks being under severe poaching pressure and biological stocks at less than 2% of pristine / historic levels. I am yet to see any conspiracy theories about this inexplicable increase in the lobster TAC, which massively benefited lobster exporters, in particular]. To list dried abalone - the form that poached ab...
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Why Dion George's Removal as Fisheries Minister is a GOOD DECISION: Some Facts Not Considered by the Daily Maverick

The Daily Maverick has over the past few days since it emerged that Dion George would be removed as the SA Minister of Forestry, Fisheries & Environment published two substantial pieces preferring view points opposing and objecting to his removal. The premise of the objections is that his replacement - Willie Aucamp - is an avid hunter and close to the hunting lobby, drumming up fears that South Africa will somehow adopt a pro-canned hunting policy despite this being contrary to Aucamp's own party's publicly stated policies.  If canned hunting is against DA policy and is certainly contrary to SA national ecological policy, then the fears being raised by the Daily Maverick pieces are misplaced in my view.  There are some other facts as to why he was fired as the Minister responsible for forestry, FISHERIES & the environment.  Dion George was most likely removed as fisheries minister because of his record of ridiculously bad decisions that ARE IN FACT CONTRARY TO D...
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