05/04/2005: “We asked
our fishing communities to trust us with their
concerns, their frustrations and their ideas.
We have met with fishers in coastal communities
from one side of South Africa to the other,
and invited them to be a real part of our
preparations for the long-term fishing rights
allocations. They responded in greater numbers
than ever before, with passion, enthusiasm,
and insight that has resulted in major changes
to how this process will unfold.” This was
how Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Minister of Environmental
Affairs & Tourism, on Tuesday introduced
an Imbizo: report-back meeting to the fishing
community in Woodstock .
Following a series of community fishing Izimbizo
held last year, the Minister published on
1 March a draft general policy and nineteen
draft fishery-specific policies for public
comment. Designed to guide the upcoming application
and allocation process for fishing rights
of between 8 and 15 years, these draft policies
were greatly influenced by the comments from
fishing communities during the Izimbizo.
“From Saldanha to Durban there was one theme
that was raised at every Imbizo,” said the
Minister, “It was the need for applications
to be affordable for even the very poor, and
the suggestion that a two-part fee be introduced
for those whose applications succeed. Your
concerns have been heard - not only do we
want to make it as affordable as possible
for you to apply for fishing rights, we want
the fees to relate directly to the value of
the rights allocated. We have now gazetted
for public comment a new structure for application
fees. In our small-scale fisheries we are
proposing to reduce the upfront application
fees by as much as 83%. Let me give you some
examples:in the white mussel and oyster fisheries
we propose to reduce the application fees
from R585 to only R100. We propose that traditional
line-fishers will no longer pay R7000 but
only R400 upfront - and then another R204
per crew member if their applications succeed.”
The previous application fees were set at
a standard flat non-refundable rate of R6000,
which has since been increased to R7000 for
the large commercial fisheries and R500 (which
has become R585) for the small-scale fisheries.
This did not take into account the value and
quantity of the right allocated, and effectively
meant that large corporate applicants who
were allocated millions of Rands worth of
quotas paid the same amount as a small right
holder allocated a few thousand kilograms
of lobster worth a few hundred thousand Rand.
Illustrating this point the Minister said:
“In the deep sea hake fishery the largest
rights holder paid only 13 cents per ton,the
smallest right holder on the other hand having
paid the same application fee effectively
paid as much as R17.86 per ton. We do not
intend to allow this to continue - under the
new proposals a large company that was allocated
45 000 tons and which paid an application
fee of only R6000 would now pay R2,25 million
if allocated that same quantity.”
Explaining the proposed changes, the Minister
added that the Department plans to recover
the full cost of the allocation and verification
process from each applicant on a pro rata
basis, depending firstly on the value of the
respective fishery, and then on the value
of the right allocated. “With the cost of
the process estimated to be about R30 million
there is no justification for small fishers
effectively subsidising the applications of
the big companies which is what happened in
the past - people will now pay for what they
get. This new system will help us to encourage
empowerment and access in fishing,” said the
Minister. “It will allow fishers with limited
resources to be able to apply for rights.Perhaps
most importantly it is simply more fair.”
Addressing other issues raised by communities
the Minister said: “Your concerns about lawyers,
teachers, and affluent businessmen receiving
quotas in small-sclae fisheries were also
heard. The result is our proposal to publish
provisional lists of successful applicants
in some fisheries - allowing our fishing communities
to identify non-fishers. Your concerns about
access for small fishers to profitable quotas
were heard - the result is that in even the
most expensive fisheries like Hake trawl,
we propose to set aside 10% of the fish to
reward transformation and another 10% to reward
small-businesses.Your concerns about difficult
application processes were heard - and now
the policies and application details are available
in all four coastal languages.”
Thanking the fishing communities for their
participation in the process the Minster said:
“We know that there are not enough fish to
give every person who wants to fish a right.
We know that small fishers and big fishers
all need to make a living from the rights
that they are allocated. Our undertaking to
you is that our Department, guided by your
advice, is doing everything in our power to
make this round of long-term allocations the
most transparent, understandable, fair and
sustainable allocation in the history of fishing
in South Africa. I thank you for your help
in this process, and I urge you to contact
our department should you have any enquiries
about the applications or fees.”
Proposed Application Fee Comparison Table:
Fisheries Current fee (Rand ) Proposed fee
payable at application Proposed additional
fee payable by successful applicants (Rand)
Per ton Per crewmember Per vessel Per area
Hake Deep Sea Trawl 7,000 32,400 54.0
Hake Inshore Trawl (hake)* 7,000
8,800 54.0
Hake Inshore Trawl (sole)* 2,000 135.0
Horse Mackerel 7,000 21,900 33.0
Small Pelagics (pilchards)* 7,000 6,400 6.4
Small Pelagics (anchovies)* 2,000 3.7
Patagonian Tooth Fish 7,000 21,000 653.0
South Coast Rock Lobster (whole mass) 7,000
8,800 788.00
KZN Prawn Trawl 7,000 7,700 15,400.0
West Coast Rock Lobster (Off shore) 7,000
2,000 540.0
Hake Long Line 7,000 2,500 162.0
Squid 7,000 5,200 703.0
Tuna Pole 7,000 1,300 113.0
Seaweed 7,000 1,900 3,400.0
Longline Demersal Shark 7,000 500 375.0
Linefish Traditional 7,000 400 204.0
Handline Hake
7,000 1,300 817.0
West Coast Rock Lobster (near shore) 585 300
Oysters 585 100
White Mussels 585 100
Net Fishing (small nets/gill nets/beach seine/trek)
585 200
* Please note that the fees for these fisheries
are per species and that applicants will have
to pay separately per species as applicable.
