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afrol.com, 28 August - The South African Cabinet today backed radical plans proposed by the Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism to restructure the allocation of fishing rights to bring stability to the fishing industry. The Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Mohammed Valli Moosa today said that there was an urgent need for stability, certainty and transparency in the fishing industry, and the plan accepted by Cabinet last week will start to fundamentally address these issues. At the core of this plan is the setting up a dedicated allocations unit, which will be resourced to have a capacity to verify all the applications for fishing rights and to allocate the resource (the totally allowable catch (TAC) for more than 20 species) in terms of measurable criteria and conditions. Secondly the catch in each species will be priced according to both effort and size. This will allow set out the relative quotas for large, medium, small and subsistence fishers, and remove purely discretionary and ad hoc decision-making from the allocation process. The grading of the players in the industry will be underscored by proper pricing of fishing rights and applications. This is to encourage small-scale and subsistence fishers, while limiting applicants for macro quotas to the genuine players in the industry. Through this we hope to start to weed out the paper quota holders so that the people genuinely interested in this industry can start fishing, Minister Moosa said. This industry, with more than R2.5 billion in annual revenue, Cabinet noted, is complicated and conflict-ridden, and has been exacerbated by past economic and social imbalances in South Africa. Minister Moosa, during his Budget speech in Parliament in May, indicated that this issue would be receiving priority by his Department this year and that they would start to issue longer quotas for some species. The Minister said that the interest in the fishing industry had increased multifold in recent years. While 500 applications were received before 1998, today more than 11,OOO applicants apply for fishing rights annually placing an unbearable pressure on both the resources of the department and that of the marine environment. "Add to this the fact that this process has to be repeated year after year, coupled with appeals and legal challenges by those who do not get a slice of the already over-subscribed pie, you have a situation of uncertainty that is not healthy for an industry of such importance," Moosa said. He added that the question of capacity to handle this massive load had to be addressed if the fishing sector was going to play an active role in economic development and job creation, especially for disadvantage coastal communities who are dependent on fishing for their livelihood. The Minister emphasised that the proposed new system of rights allocation will support the policy of sustainable use of our resources. "We will ensure through this policy of properly regulated and verifiable systems that our marine resources will be utilised optimally and sustainably to achieve economic growth," he said. The vision of the new policy is underpinned by a transformation strategy based on the following core issues: - Establishment of a dedicated Rights Allocation Unit. This will deal with the question of capacity of the Department to service the industry more efficiently. - Issuing of Long Term Rights (instead of annual renewal of rights) for all species by the year 2002. This will boost confidence in the industry and is an important building block for stability and crucial for new entrants who can only acquire credit if longer-term rights are issued. The fish species that would immediately be considered for longer rights (two to five year) include: Mariculture, Fish Processing; Shark Longline; Prawns and Seaweed. - Rooting out of malpractices in the industry through a verification unit. The days of multi annual 'paper quotas' to people who show no inclination to invest in the industry are numbered. A verification unit will cross check the veracity of applications to unmask fictitious claims and companies, fraudulent conduct fronts and other related issues. Those caught out will be prosecuted and/or disqualified from taking part in the industry. - Establishment of a proper fee structure for the payment of rights. Currently the big players in the industry are paying a pittance for their rights. A new revenue system will be introduced that will put a fee structure concomitant with the value of the catch and also take into account the size of the participant. - Moving the industry towards greater self-regulation and co-management. The vision in this regard is to move towards a scenario where the industry participates in both setting the criteria for rights allocation and participating in the awarding of such rights within an approved structure.
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