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South Africa's boat based whale watching and shark cage diving sectors are each represented by industry bodies formally recognised and authorised to represent members under the Marine Living Resources Act, 1998, which is the law governing whale watching and shark cage diving. The whale watching industry is represented by the SA Boat-Based Whale Watching Industry and the shark cage diving sector by the Great White Shark Protection Foundation. Feike is an advisor to both bodies. The department responsible for these two sectors is the Department of Environmental Affairs. In early 2015, Industry representatives met with officials from DEA to remind them that permits in both sectors were set to expire at the end of June 2016 for the whale watching sector and at the end of August for the white shark diving sector. Industry offered to assist where possible with preparations for the permit re-allocation and renewal process. Both the whale watching and shark cage diving sectors undertook ...

My next Maritime Review Africa article will provide a summation of the FRAP 2013 appeals process, including an analysis of the line fish appeals process that led to the publication of the Minister's final traditional line fish decisions in May 2016 . The FRAP 2013 appeals process took 10 months to conclude, highlighting that such administrative processes, if undertaken legally and diligently, take substantial planning and time. To rush these processes only causes significant harm to both the fishing industry and communities, on the one hand, and to the overseeing regulator - DAFF. My article addresses the key mechanisms and processes that were implemented when evaluating and deciding the 567 traditional line fish appeals in particular. The article also addresses where the decisions leave the small-scale community-based fishing sector process and how the additional anticipated effort from these communities could conceivably be accommodated without decimating staple line fish s...