The Masifundise Development Trust says uncertainties loom over Western Cape fishing communities around whether their fishing rights will be allocated and cooperatives will be established in time for the next fishing season next month.
Carmen Mannarino, Programme Manager at Masifundise, said although promises were made by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and Environment (DFFE) that the permit issues will be resolved, however, small-scale fishers are not sure as to when and how.
She said that in September 2022, DFFE announced that the Western Cape High Court had reviewed and set aside the 2016–2019 process of verifying small-scale fishers in the Western Cape province.
Mannarino said this came as a result of the previous process being found wholly inadequate and that the results of the assessments cannot and should not be relied on for any decision-making purpose in terms of the regulations by an audit.
“The new verification process commenced in September 2022. As of March this year, 84% of small-scale fishers had successfully completed the process. Communities have now undergone cooperative training and registration, with rights soon to be granted,” said Mannarino.
She said, however, challenges persist for small-scale fishers due to the delayed implementation of the verification process. She added that there is insufficient support for small-scale fishing communities in the process due to the department’s lack of budget and capacity to effectively help many communities in a limited time period.
“Over the years, there has been a recurring challenge of delayed permits. Permits that are issued late by the department impact their ability to properly plan their livelihood activities and lead to delays in boat registration. As a result, this directly affects their efforts to secure a liveable income and to put food on the table not only for their families but for the communities that also depend on these resources,” said Mannarino.
Responding to questions in Parliament, Barbara Creecy, DFFE minister, said that the delays in the allocation of small-scale fishing rights in the Western Cape have had a negative short-term impact.
She said this has been necessary considering that the delays were understood by communities when they requested fishing rights allocation processes to be repeated in order to promote inclusivity, fairness, and transparency.
“This has resulted in an improved process, in which the new results are widely welcomed by small-scale communities. Notwithstanding the delays, small-scale fishermen were permitted to continue fishing under the Interim Relief Dispensation until the finalisation of the allocation of fishing rights. The DFFE is currently in the process of finalising the allocation of 15-year fishing rights by October 2023,” said Creecy.
She said the DFF has been facilitating support for all small-scale fishing cooperatives with fishing in three other coastal provinces, and in the Western Cape, training interventions were included as part of the roll-out process of the rights of allocation process.