The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (the Department) has been consistently working on the process for the implementation of the small-scale fisheries sector as outlined in the Roll-Out Plan. The department hereby wishes to inform its stakeholders and the public about the latest developments with regards to the implementation process.
To date, the department has continued consulting communities as it progresses to the final stretch of implementing the fisheries policy.
Due to the sensitive nature of the process up to now, we have reached some technical challenges in vetting the Small-Scale Fishing Regulations.
The vetting and the approval the Small-Scale Fishing Regulations is necessary in providing the legal framework for prescribing the process for allocating small-scale fishing rights and the overall management of this new fishing sector.
The department is working closely with the Office of the Chief State Law Advisor (OCSLA) to urgently resolve some of the technical legal issues in order to have the Regulations vetted. The department acknowledges that it has not met the timeframes as communicated in the Roll-Out Plan. The Roll-Out Plan will therefore require adjustment, but this adjustment will only be communicated once the department has resolved the vetting issues with OCSLA.
In the meantime, communities that have as yet not registered an expression of interest with the department are hereby reminded that the expression of interest process is still open for fishing communities that would like to be considered as part of the implementation process. The expression of interest form can be downloaded from (https://www.daff.gov.za/daffweb3/Branches/Fisheries-Management/Small-Scale-Fishing).
Stakeholders are also encouraged to consult our website: www.daff.gov.za and Facebook (Small-Scale Fisheries) page to keep updated with the most recent small-scale fisheries information and developments.
For media enquiries and further information, please contact:
Palesa Mokomele
Director of Communication Services (Fisheries) in the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Cell: +27 82 904 1908
Tel: +27 21 402 3702
