As the government continues to advance the rights and conditions of fishing people, including the small-scale and subsistence fisher folks, the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has raised concerns about the pace of transformation in the fishing sector around coastal communities.
This follows the views and grievances expressed by several fishermen and women who participated in the two-day public hearings on the Marine Living Resource Amendment Bill which is currently before the Committee.
While the Bill aims, among others, to allow for the allocation and re-allocation of fishing rights to the successful bidders in the small-scale fishing communities, especially those who have previously been excluded from the commercial fishing rights allocation process. The Committee is concerned about the high alarming rate of undocumented deaths which are associated with fishing activities without any formal statistics, unlike in other sectors.
The Committee Chairperson, Mr Lulu Johnson, said despite the efforts by the government to transform the fishery industry through amendment of legislations and development of policies, the level of exploitation of disadvantaged groups, especially the small-scale and subsistence fisher folks, remained high.
“As the Committee we have afforded every interested stakeholder, both the individuals and fishing associations, who presented diverse views on how this Bill should be amended to better address their fishing plight. However, despite their submissions on the amendment, we also heard of other challenges that are not covered in this legislation.
“Access to funding or finance, lack of insurance in the form of Sea Insurance Fund just like the Road Accident Fund, no recourse for those who perish in the sea like victims of road accidents, are some of the challenges still facing most of the people who rely on fishing for food and income,” said Mr Johnson.
Meanwhile, parliamentarians were urged to look into the issue of recognising small-scale fisher folks and the applicability of labour legislations such as Labour Relations Act, Basic Conditions of Employment Act and the Compensation for occupational injuries and Diseases Act across all categories in fishing sector.
Several presenters expressed conviction that the amendment of the legislation will contribute to food security, socioeconomic development and alleviation of poverty in coastal regions. There are over 7 000 subsistence fishers active along the South African coastline.
The Committee will next week further deliberate on the Bill clause by clause and receive responses from the department.
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Foster Mohale
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Email: fmohale@parliament.gov.za
