Ladies and gentlemen
It is my pleasure to address you this morning on the success and progress that my department has made with regards to the appeals lodged during the Fishing Rights Allocation Process of 2013. Today, I am glad to inform the South African public and the Fisheries industry in particular, that we have managed to process all the appeals and as I promised you that we will ensure we close the chapter on this matter.
During this process, I appointed an advisory team; comprising Prof. Julian Smith, Adv. Shaheen Moolla, and an attorney Ms. Mamakhe Mdhluli. This team began their work from June 2015, and has worked tirelessly since then to this very end. All the appeals were considered and evaluated in the 7 fishing sectors- except for Line Fish as the settlement out of court had to be sort.
Ladies and gentlemen;
The industry and the public will recall that this year, there are 10 fishing sectors whose rights expire from 28 February 2015 until 31 December 2015 and are now due for allocation. The finalisation therefore of the appeals from
the allocation of 2013 was most critical as the department is now currently rolling out the new allocations. The fishing sectors that are now due for the allocation of fishing rights were allocated rights for a period of ten years in the year 2005.
When I assumed office in May 2014, the department had not started the process to allocate new fishing rights despite the fact that already in 2005 when those rights were allocated; it was known that they will expire in 2015. This was of great concern as the delays could justify the extension that only benefits those who already have the rights, while others having waited for 10 years are made to wait even more.
We could not continue to subject the people under that situation hence I, in terms of section 18 of the Marine Living Resources Act decided to exempt the current right holders in order to extend their rights for a period of 12 months while the department put in place credible processes for the allocations. The new date of expiry of all the rights was approved to be 29 February 2016. This expiry date is only for sectors that were allocated rights in 2005, expiring in 2015.
I have already held a press briefing in this regard and published several press statements communicating the appeals decisions by sectors as were dealt in batches.
In processing these FRAP 2013 Appeals, we needed to have very clear guiding principles and criterion to ensure a fair process which can withstand scrutiny and restore the confidence of the people of the republic about our rights allocation processes. In this regard, prior to the commencement of each of the 8 fishing sector’s evaluation the following was adhered to:
- the appeals team was briefed by the lead scientists responsible for the respective fisheries
- every single appeal was scrutinised by at least 2 members of the appeals team to ensure concurrence with respect to the proposed advice
- Where appeals had technical matters that arose from lack of clarity of policies or ambiguity such as the suitability of fishing vessels or the substantial re-scoring of applications, the team scrutinised these with the various Fisheries Managers of the department to ensure compliance with scoring and weighting criteria, policies and the applicable regulatory framework
- All information submitted for each appeal was considered provided it existed as at the date on which applications were due. Agreements and any other data created subsequent to the application submission deadline were not considered
- Appellants were afforded an opportunity to file supplementary appeal information
It is worth noting that the appeals team, where deemed necessary has met with representatives of the various Fishing Associations in order to inform them that I would be deciding appeals in their various fisheries, and to request for inputs relevant to the future management of the industry.
In total we received and processed 928 appeals starting from June 2015 till to date. The breakdown per fishery is enclosed in the media statement to be released after this press briefing.
The appeals were processed considering our commitment to transformation; economic viable; environmental considerations among other things. In this regard, I can indicate that in KZN prawn fishery for an example, the participation by blacks in this fishery prior to the allocation of fishing rights in December 2013, the average black ownership profile of the 4 operating right holders was 66%. Immediately after the allocation of rights under FRAP 2013, the black ownership profile of the fishery decreased to 40%. Subsequent to the year’s decisions on appeals, although we could not attain the previous 66% black ownership profile of the fishery, it however increased to 50%.
While I am on this matter of black ownership in the fishing industry, I have taken time to visit a number of fishing communities along the coast, and in particular in the Western Cape. I can tell you that what I saw and heard points to the collusion and fronting by established fishing companies who continue to the fisher folk as a front in order to secure fishing rights.
In many cases that have been brought before me, the poor fishers owe tax to SARS huge sums of money as they been listed as Directors of companies while they have no knowledge of such and never got the monies to that effect.
Although some strides have been made to transform the industry, it became apparent that traditional or small-scale fisheries have been left out while others ‘used’ to front. It is such matters that prompted us to outline clear transformation targets on the current policies for FRAP 2015/16. Above all the department will appoint a team of forensics who will verify the truthfulness of the information submitted during the application process.
In the Oyster and Mussel Fisheries after granting appeals, the black individuals hold 70.4% and 85% respectively while before the appeals the black holders were just near 60%. These fisheries are of low value, nearshore small-scale fisheries.
They are principally harvested by pickers using basic fishing gear and sold to local restaurants and hotels, so those residing close to this resource we have granted them rights instead of having them to pick for someone else.
In the Tuna Pole Fishery, I wish to highlight that the finalisation of the appeals process has also substantially bolstered black economic empowerment and transformation. Prior to the allocation of the current long term fishing rights in this fishery, the percentage of black-owned right holders in the fishery stood at 54%. This has now increased to an impressive 69%, impressive because one of the successful is a 100% black and women owned company.
On the matter of cooperatives, I wish to indicate that all appeals lodged by co- operatives were not decided upon in any of the fisheries. On 30 December 2013, the DDG at the time decided to reserve his decision on the applications filed by several co-operatives. We could not decide on these applications for the reason that as at the date of the application, co-operatives could not lawfully apply for, acquire or hold a section 18 fishing right in terms of the Act. This prohibition continues to apply until such time a Second Marine Living Resources Act Amendment comes into force.
On the environmental considerations when we dealt with the appeals, of note is the Shark Demersal Fishery. I have noted with concern that the right holders in this fishery have been targeting and harvesting shark species such as hammerhead sharks and other listed species. The annual landings in this fishery had declined substantially because due to environmental considerations my department is in the processes of phasing out the direct targeting of sharks.
Going forward, only those sharks caught as by-catch will be allowed under strict conditions that they land such sharks with fins attached. In this regard we thus granted rights to only 2 appellants in this fishery. However we do recognise that fishing is a business and we therefore redirected a number of vessels that target sharks to the tuna and tuna-like fishery.
These are the efforts our country and the department have achieved as we are a member state in good standing with the United Nations FAO guideline for responsible fisheries which calls for National Plan of Action for the protection of sharks and other threatened marine species.
Ladies and gentlemen;
Today I have considered the last appeals in Hake Handline sector. This fishery currently operates for ±3 months of the year. It is formally managed in terms of a total allowable catch (TAC) of 5 000 tons, but between 2006 and 2013 this limit of 5000 tons has never been fully caught and in fact less than 2 500 tons was the average caught for each season over the period.
Of the 87 current right holders in the fishery, departmental records show that in 2014 only 24 right holders uplifted their permits. In 2015, this number declined to 21. Accordingly, only 24% of all right holders in this fishery are presently active and utilising their rights. This remains a concerning trend for me as it means the fishery remains largely inactive with historical hake handline crew unemployed with few employment options available as fishing is a seasonal activity- this is a shame.
I have then decided to grant hake handline fishing rights to a total of 23 appellants, adding 26 fishing vessels and creating additional 291 crew rights which translate to 291 direct jobs. Of the 23 successful appellants, 12 are legal entity appellants and the remainder, individual fishers.
In so doing, the black ownership profile of the fishery has increased from 30% to 79%. Given the exceptionally poor permit activation rate in this fishery I have instructed the department to undertake without delay a socio-economic investigation aimed at understanding the why so few hake handline fishing rights have been activated- this will enable us to create more room for those interested in the fishery, in particular the small scale fishers from Southern and Eastern Cape.
Once that investigation is done, I will be considering the viability of expanding this fishery by accommodating an additional 700 crew rights which will be reserved exclusively for small-scale fishers and particularly those fishers that crew squid boats and who are domiciled in the Southern and Eastern Cape.
The intention of this expanded fishery will be to ensure that these squid fishing crew can continue harvesting fish and earn an income during the squid closed fishing seasons or when squid fishing vessels are not operating. I was in Humarsndorp recently and I saw the plight of the squid boats crew and it is my view that we can’t encourage poverty and hunger of the fishers.
The advisory team met with representatives of the Linefish Association (SACLA) on 27 November to discuss the terms of the settlement order made
6 November 2015 we concluded and it was agreed that supplementary appeals would be filed on or before 16h00 on 8 January 2016. That process will then put the Linefish matter to a close.
In conclusion, I want to assure you that we have dealt with these appeals in the most fair and transparent manner and reasonable time. We rose above all the challenges and constraints and stand ready and open to scrutiny because I believe that will help us improve going forward.
As the government expressed the intent to overhaul the rights allocation system and transform the fishing industry since 1994, I am sure that we are on the right direction to speed up and truly uplift the fishers from the long abuse they have been subjected to for so many years. This is the vision of an economy that meets the needs of the people in a more equitable manner as these are the anchors of the Freedom Charter of 1955, as also embodied in our Constitution.
Thank you…. Enkosi……. Baie Dankie
