Posts

Showing posts from February, 2020

A "New Minister"; Another Illegal Decision in the Hake Trawl Fishery Appeals

It is incredible! The Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries has now apparently issued her appeal decisions which have been outstanding since August 2019 when Minister Zokwana's fourth set of decisions in the hake inshore trawl and sole fishery were reviewed and set aside by the Western Cape High Court. What is patently obvious is that we seem completely content to rely on appallingly bad legal advice. The extent of the illegality of this decision is actually quite breathtaking. In December 2018, Minister Zokwana decided to allocate a total of 36 hake inshore trawl and sole fishing rights. Of these, 17 were granted to existing or historic right holders. The remaining 19 rights were allocated to new entrants. Zokwana's decision in December 2018, followed an unlawful July 2017 decision which was reviewed and set aside on at least 3 separate occasions. These 19 new entrants had in the interim entered into various types of commitments to have their 15-year fishing righ...