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ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL STOCK ASSESSMENT REVIEW WORKSHOP, UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN, MONDAY 2 TO FRIDAY 6 DECEMBER 2012 Over Monday 2 to Friday 6 December an international panel of scientists will be conducting an annual review of the analyses used to provide scientific advice for the management of the major South African fisheries. This review takes the form of a workshop to be held at the University of Cape Town (Mathematics Building Room M212, 9 am to 5-30 pm daily, except for an 11 am start on the Tuesday).  Four leading international fisheries scientists make up the review panel. They are Sean Cox (Simon Fraser University, Canada), Ana Parma (Centro Nacional Patagonico, Argentina), Andre Punt (University of Washington, USA) and Tony Smith (Chair, Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organisation, Australia). Discussions this year will focus on the four-yearly process currently in progress of revision of the formula used to recommend catches for hake, which is So...

During the 2012/2013 season 38 fishers held interim relief (IR) lobster fishing quotas in the Struisbaai area. For the current season, DAFF added a further 20 quota holders and with them came a new "community" representative appointed by DAFF. The original community representative, Mr Henry Bantom, who was appointed by the 38 IR quota holders has been removed and replaced by a Mr Charles Thompson. No one seems to know how this person was appointed to represent an entire community of Struisbaai lobster fishers and when this appointment occurred.  What is clear is that the 38 original quota holders have been told by DAFF officials, including Desmond Stevens, that he will not talk to them. Stevens  will only communicate with the representative - Mr Thompson - who is now in charge of the entire Struisbaai lobster allocation. It is understood that - as has been reported in the Cape Times today (26 November) - a company called "Two Oceans" has been punted and put for...

Within 24 hours of Feike writing about DAFF's unlawful and questionable processes of allocating Interim Relief 8 lobster quotas which are now to be administered solely and exclusively by persons secretly appointed by DAFF, we have received further examples of possible corruption and community conflict in the Stanford area near Gansbaai and in Kleinmond near Hermanus.  Feike has received information that some 15 Stanford interim relief lobster fishers have suddenly been removed from the Stanford list of Interim Relief lobster right holders by a Ms Francina Booysen (chosen by DAFF to "lead" the Stanford IR "co-operative" group) because they refused to agree to sell their fish to a company that DAFF wants them to use to process and market their lobster.  The only possible inference for such egregiously illegal conduct is that one or more DAFF officials are being paid a bribe by the processing and marketing company to force right holders to use its service...

The Global Oceans Commission has released summary reports on key policy issues affecting High Seas Governance. These summaries are currently available on the GOC website . The following are the 10 key policy areas that have been addressed: 1.     A Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for the global ocean 2.     Climate change, ocean acidification and geo-engineering 3.     Elimination of marine pollution affecting the high seas 4.     Bioprospecting and marine genetic resources 5.     Deep seabed mining 6.     Eliminating harmful fisheries subsidies 7.     MPAs: protecting high seas biodiversity 8.     Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing 9.     Reform of high seas fisheries management 10.   Modernising ocean governance  Comment can be submitted to  ideas@globaloceancommission.org 

If you did not receive an email notification of the two articles published on 24 November, please forward your email address to Feike's Shaheen Moolla via email.

At Midday on 23 November 2013, the 2013/2014 squid season started. However for the 136 vessels  and 2422 crew uncertainty continued to dominate the fishery as it had done over the past 12 months.  DAFF maintained its questionable silence and complete news-blackout on the 2013 Fishing Rights Allocation Process (FRAP). No one knows -  how many applications in total were received for the 8 fisheries; or of the total applications received, how many new entrant and current right holders applied for fishing rights in each sector; or what the broad transformation profile of the applicants are (new and current right holders); or what the investment profile of each fishery looks like. Such basic information (which was all readily available within 2 to 7 days of the 2005 rights allocation process having begun) is crucial for the industry and applicants in general. It allows for greater confidence in the process and of course ensures that the process is as transparen...

The Second Marine Living Resources Amendment Bill was passed by the National Assembly  (NA) on 7 November 2013. In the next edition of Maritime Review Africa  I address the fact that the Amendment Bill is a poser, which despite the protestations of the Minister of Fisheries and her officials, is nothing more than empty rhetoric and false promises.  The inclusion of co-operatives as possible right holders simply does not address the history of fishing co-operative failure in this country. And then there is the desperate attempt to pretend that small-scale fishers were never before recognised by South African African law - as if the 2200 current artisinal right holders do not exist; do not hold fishing rights; and have not made massive investments in boats and people.  The undeniable fact however remains that fishing rights cannot be allocated to co-operatives under the 2013 Fishing Rights Allocation Process (FRAP). Despite all the hype and rhetoric by the Fis...