Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), Tina Joemat-Pettersson welcomes timeous awarding of fishing quotas by department
The Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), Ms Tina Joemat-Pettersson has received, and welcomes a report from the department which confirms that fishing quotas were successfully issued before the due date of 1st January 2014.
Fishing rights in the KwaZulu-Natal prawn trawl, demersal shark, squid, tuna pole-line, hake handline, white mussel, traditional linefish and oyster fishing sectors expired on 31 December 2013 and the DAFF, as required by law, carried out the Fishing Rights Application Process (FRAP) during the course of 2013.
The arduous task of ensuring that fishers in the eight fishing sectors were fully informed happened with the full commitment of the fisheries branch which worked around the clock, using imaginative means to assist fishing communities to understand the application process. This process involved the simplification of the application process and making the application free of charge. A huge shift from previous years.
This information contradicts the findings of the Public Protector, that there would be “delayed quota allocations”. The issuing of the quotas on time, and as planned, which cannot be disputed, confirms that the accusations made by the Public Protector against the Minister were both premature and groundless.
The Minister will not comment on the merits of the quota allocations, since she is the appeal authority and would not want to prejudice this position.
The Minister has welcomed the response of her department to the administrative matters in the Public Protector report, and confirmed that the department has received clean audits throughout her term of office. The Minister has also welcomed the support of industry players, and the inputs from the scientific community, which have suggested that the Public Protector may have been misled on the issue of fish stocks.
The Minister would however like to take up the point made by the Chief Executive Officer of the Public Protector in his television interview on 14th December 2014, which claimed that the departmental response had dismissed the findings as mere allegations. It did no such thing; the Public Protector herself says the “findings” on fisheries resources are indeed allegations.
The Minister wishes to reiterate her commitment towards working with industry to create a stable and transformed fishing industry that is inclusive.
Kind regards
Enquiries:
Palesa Mokomele
Spokesperson for the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Cell: 082 904 1908
Telephone: 012 319 7876 (PTA) or 021 467 4502 (CPT)
Fax: 012 319 6681 (PTA) or 021 465 6550 (CPT)
Email: PalesaM@daff.gov.za
