Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on Marine Living Resources Act

Granting of exemption to previous Netfish Right Holders in terms of Section 81 of The Marine Living Resources Act

On the 29^th of January 2016, the Honourable Minister of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries granted an exemption in terms of section 81 of the Marine Living Resources Act (Act No. 18 of 1998) (“the MLRA”) from section 18(1) of the MLRA to all fishing right holders whose fishing rights were due to expire in 2015.

In terms thereof, previous fishing right holders were permitted to catch and land their fish for the entire duration of the various fishing seasons due for re-allocation in 2015.

5 597 completed application forms were receipted against 16 744 that were distributed. The department is currently assessing and evaluating these application forms for allocations.

It was envisaged that the assessment of Netfish application forms would have been completed before the start of the new season, 1 July 2016 and an announcement would have also been made in respect of the initial successful applicants. However, due to unforeseeable delays, no new rights were allocated in this particular sector prior to the commencement of the new fishing season.

The Delegated Authority has considered the need to maintain and ensure a continuous supply of fish and fish products as well as stability within the sector. Coupled with that, further consideration was given to employment purpose as well as food security.

In light thereof, the Delegated Authority has decided to allow the Netfish previous rights holders currently operating under exemption, to continue fishing for a period of one month, i.e., until 31 July 2016 or operate until the new fishing rights are allocated, whichever comes first.

This exemption dispensation is only applicable to the Netfish fishing sector. For all other sectors due for re-allocation, new right holders that will be granted rights in 2016 will commence harvesting their allocations when their new seasons start in line with the table below:

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Palesa Mokomele
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E-mail: PalesaM@daff.gov.za