~

On 23 July 2008, the "Antillas Reefer" was arrested by the Mozambican authorities after it was observed fishing without a license off the central province of Zambezia with 43 tonnes of sharks, four tonnes of shark fin, 1.8 tonnes of shark tail, 11.3 tonnes of shark liver and 20 tonnes of shark oil, for a total value of five million USD. On board were also 65 tonnes of bait (frozen squid and fish, bait, and illegal deepwater long lines). The vessel was apparently targeting deep sea sharks. Its logbook showed that the Namibian-flagged vessel had been fishing in Mozambique’s waters since early May for a species banned as a target species in Mozambique, namely sharks. The Ministry took immediate action against the Namibian-flagged fishing vessel for illegally fishing in Mozambique’s waters. The penalty imposed was US$4 million in addition to the confiscation of the vessel, fishing gear and catch – an appropriate penalty for an IUU fishing vessel and a message for other would-be I...

The Minister of Fisheries, Tina Joemat-Pettersson, will announce the re-opening of the abalone fishery in Hawston at 3pm on 18 June 2010. A venue has not yet been decided but we will keep you updated. Abalone right holders should attend the announcement as the decision to reopen the fishery is only the start of a process to get right holders back in the water. Right holders will surely want to know what the TAC is, what compliance plan and budget is in place and what management and recovery plan is being considered.

On 15 June 2010, Cabinet issued a statement confirming the "conditional lifting of the ban on abalone fishing". The statement read very briefly as follows: Cabinet approved the conditional lifting of the ban on commercial wild abalone harvesting. The lifting of the ban will be subject to strict law enforcement to ensure compliance by rights holders. Right holders who contravene the Act will have their permits or licences withdrawn. The Minister will monitor the situation and table progress reports to Cabinet every six months. The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries will brief the media shortly on how this decision will implemented. We now wait for the Minister of Fisheries to formally communicate this news to the industry and advise on when the consultation processes for the development of the fishing implementation, compliance, management and research strategies will commence.

The Department of Environmental Affairs is without doubt on a roll but most definitely not in a good way! DEA has now unilaterally decided to de-list abalone from CITES Appendix III. It issued a notification to CITES that South Africa will de-list abalone within a matter of months but it took the decision without consulting the Department of Fisheries, TRAFFIC, the abalone industry or any other stakeholder. It is beyond comprehension as to the arrogance displayed by this department that continues to embarrass this country. The decision is unlawful on two basic grounds. The first is that the decision fails to comply with the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act of 2000 which requires consultation in such an instance. The second is that in terms of section 231 of the Constitution, DEA could not have taken this decision without Cabinet approval. But what is particularly concerning is this department's (and its Minister's) complete and utter contempt for the rule of law and co-o...

The department of environmental affairs states that IT is in charge of boat-based whale watching and white shark cage diving. However, just to make sure that we, the public, are thoroughly confused, the department of agriculture, forestry and fisheries' new website on fisheries (http://www.nda.agric.za/doaDev/fisheries/index.html) appears to confirm that IT is in charge of boat-based whale watching and white shark cage diving! Would it not be helpful if the Ministers of these two departments actually sorted this mess out by agreeing that legally DAFF is the best placed authority to regulate these two sectors? Or is this too much to ask?