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The Sunday Times of 31 July 2011 reported on the fraudster and con-artist, Yusuf Achmat. The article however seems to create an air of ambiguity regarding the role that Feike played in the matter. These are the facts: 1. Feike was approached by both Ixia Trading and Gansbaai Marine (via Marine Admin Consultants) to urgently source pilchard quota for them for the 2011 season. 2. Feike was advised that a person called Yusuf Achmat who represented 4 pilchard quota holding companies was prepared to sell the pilchards belonging to these entities for the 2011 season for a specified price on certain terms and conditions, which were communicated to Feike by Achmat in writing. 3. Feike communicated these terms to the both Ixia and Gansbaai whose respective managing directors confirmed their concurrence and that Feike must proceed with the drafting of the agreements. The agreements were subsequently drafted and presented to Achmat for signature. As the quota holders he represented are ...

The Cape Times (26 July 2011) reports that one of the 19 people arrested as part of an abalone poaching syndicate is Samuel (Sammy) Brett, 42. Brett was an ANC candidate for ward councillor in the recent local government elections. A senior ANC source confirms that Brett stood as the ANC’s official candidate during the recent municipal elections for Ward 2 in the Gansbaai area. The source also says Brett’s name was on the list that was submitted to the IEC ahead of the elections. Brett has a number of previous convictions relating to transgressions of the Marine Living Resources Act. Brett is by no means the only senior local ANC caught poaching abalone. If we recall, in 2009 a local ANC leader was caught with 2 474 fresh abalone outside Hermanus, after a short chase in a vehicle covered with stickers of the ruling party and its leader, Jacob Zuma. There is no news on whether this ANC leader was ever prosecuted or what happened to the 2474 freshly shucked abalone. Was this ANC leader e...

The Minister of Environmental Affairs finally issued her decisions on the appeals in the white shark cage diving sector on 25 July 2011. It took the Minister some 12 months to decide a mere 16 appeals. The permits issued are valid for five years, renewable annually in terms of section 13 of the Marine Living Resources Act. Of Feike's 5 clients in the white shark cage diving and boat-based whale watching sectors, four have been successful (2 new entrants and 2 exemption holders).

There can be no doubt that an organisation's public profile today is defined by its various e-platforms. Whether the platform is the "traditional" website, an interactive blog, Facebook, Twitter... these tell the world what you are thinking and where you are at. Used cleverly, these platforms market the organisation's vision and instills confidence in it. So the department of fisheries' website (it has no other e-platform to profile itself and speak to fishing industry) is a comical tragedy. Under "BREAKING NEWS", the latest news item is from October 2010! Has nothing remotely relevant happened in the fishing industry since October 2010? And don't bother with trying to open any of the other pages as they are still all under "construction"! Remember the "new" department of fisheries came into being in June 2009 - that is, in the previous decade! It took less time to build entire soccer stadiums. Under the "Management" lin...

The Cape Times this morning reports of a significant series of arrests of 19 people, including serving police officers alleged to be involved in the illegal harvesting and trade of wild abalone. It has been reported that the investigations into the syndicate's illegal activities spanned some three years and involved the Department of Fisheries (and its predecessor, MCM) and the South African Police Service. The arrest of serving police officers will come as little surprise to fishers who have been alleging police and fishery compliance officer complicity in the illegal harvesting of abalone for some time, having cited numerous examples in public and to the department. While we must recognise the important and invaluable work of the department of fisheries' compliance officers in the specialised unit for this important step forward, we must however caution against complacency. We read of literally dozens of arrests of poachers and syndicate members with little news of any succes...

The European Union has initialled a new Protocol to the fisheries agreement with Guinea Bissau, which maintains the conditions of the present Protocol i.e. fishing possibilities for 4,400 GRT for shrimp trawlers, 4,400 GRT (gross register tonnage) for fin-fish and cephalopod trawlers, 23 tuna seiners and longliners, and 14 pole-and-line vessels. The EU financial counterpart amounts to 4,550,000 EUR for the right to fish and 2,950,000 EUR for the support of the fisheries sector in Guinea Bissau. A new clause was added to allow for the suspension of the protocol if there is a breach of human rights and democratic principles. This fisheries agreement allows vessels mainly from Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece and France to fish in the Guinea-Bissau waters. The duration of the Protocol is for only one year since negotiations were delayed by the consultations held in 2011 between the EU and Guinea Bissau under Article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement. The Parties expect to have a new protocol nego...

A working group of the United Nations General Assembly in June recommended the establishment of a process that could lead to a multilateral agreement on high seas conservation and sustainable use. Specifically the recommendations call for crafting a legal regime under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to conserve marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdictions, including by designating MPAs. Currently no mechanism exists to designate MPAs on the high seas that would apply to all nations. High seas presently comprise 64% of the world's oceans. For more see www.iucn.org/?uNewsID=7612

Fishing Industry News has already reported on the fraudulent conduct of a con-man called Yusuf Achmat who presents himself as the "owner" of a defunct close corporation called MALAFA FISHING CC. Achmat is neither the "owner" nor a member of Malafa Fishing. Malafa does not own any assets and does not have any fishing quotas. Achmat himself owns nothing accept what he has recently purchased from his criminal proceeds (a car, expensive watches etc). He lives in Fairways on the Cape Flats in his mother-in-law's house. Achmat has gone on a prolific defrauding spree in the fishing industry this year alone. Relying on the fact that (for some odd reason) many industry operators will happily accept being defrauded without even reporting the fraud to the SAPS, let alone suing for the recovery of the money, Mr Achmat appears to have stolen approximately R355,000 from commercial operators in the fishing industry and has become bolder as he continues to escape sanction, unti...

This opinion was originally posted by Victor Restrepo and Bill Fox on http://iss-foundation.org/2011/07/07/understanding-the-iucn-redlist/ on Thursday, 7 July 2011 On July 7, 2011, a group of scientists published an article in Science magazine, reflecting the status of various tuna and billfish populations according to the criteria used by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The so-called “Red List” can be used to identify populations of that face long-term sustainability issues according to IUCN. The Red List puts populations in six different categories: Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, Near Threatened, Least Concern, and Data Deficient; the first three are known as the “Threatened” categories in the Red List. Evaluations are based on a standard IUCN formula that classifies populations according to several considerations, such as changes in population size. The two of us were participating members of the IUCN review team, which – for the first ti...

Why DAFF has not officially published a guideline on "How to screw over artisinal fishers", we don't know. Especially since no one else in the business can so completely frustrate and jeopardise many hundreds of businesses because of incompetent and red-taped "officials". Take a very recent example in the abalone sector. Here, repeated bungling and utter incompetence by DAFF officials has resulted in the failure to properly implement the allocation of 14 tons of abalone in the False Bay and the eastern part of False Bay (Zone E1). Despite the fact that the abalone industry had provided a complete implementation strategy and timetable which has been accepted by right holders - something the department of fisheries ought to have done but simply could not understand - DAFF officials responded to the industry request with this gem of a response - "Applications or requests like your one are normally submitted at Customer Service Center where they would get regis...

This is a replication of a press statement issued by the DA's Mark Wiley last week. Following a debate in the Western Cape Parliament last week, I have called for a Commission of Enquiry into the mismanagement of the small boat fishing harbours and fisheries along the Western Cape coast and the impact this is having on the surrounding traditional communities. With one exception, all of South Africa’s small harbours are found along the dangerous Western Cape coastline. They service the fishing fleet, exploiting the vital fish stocks, with some 95% of all commercial species being found off this coast. Since their construction in the 1920’s and 30’s these harbours, some in desolate areas, have served as the lifeline for the fishing communities that have developed around them. Hundreds of thousands of people, mainly in the lower income group, are dependent on this industry. It is common knowledge, backed by expert opinion, that the current ANC National government, has neglected both...

At a meeting of Recognised Fishing Industry Associations held in Cape Town on Tuesday the 14th of June, 2011, the motivation for establishing an overarching Association to be known as FishSA, was discussed. It was unanimously agreed that a core Association would be able to most effectively liaise with and assist various institutions, including the Branch Fisheries, the South African Maritime Safety Authority and the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications, in addressing matters of common interest to the commercial fishing industry. The establishment of FishSA will not erode the status of the existing Recognised Fishing Industry Associations, who will continue to represent and participate fully in matters particular and pertinent to their specific industry sectors. Tim Reddell was unanimously elected Chair, as was Suleiman Salie as Vice-Chair. Messrs. Richard Ball, Mike Copeland, Craig Bacon and Andrew Kaye, were elected to serve on the Management Committee of FishSA. Roy Bros...