Fisheries department releases new licenses for small-scale fishermen, but complaints remain

After much pressure from local communities, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment (DFFE) has finally granted small-scale fishing permits for the Western Cape, announcing the decision on Wednesday.

After decades of delay, 3,850 small-scale fishers, who have organized into 62 cooperatives to pool their resources in the face of foreign- and BEE-aligned corporate competition, have received new extended fishing rights. However, the specific details of the permits and the allocated catches are not yet determined.

The allocation of small-scale fishing rights, valid for 15 years, is the outcome of a protracted battle and was officially declared by the DFFE on November 15. This decision will see the establishment of 62 fishing cooperatives, comprising 3,850 small-scale fishers, across the west coast.

Small-scale fishing rights have faced severe setbacks in the Western Cape under the current dispensation. Complaints about the 2016-2019 rights allocation process, where only 29% of applicants were granted rights, led to DFFE Minister Barbara Creecy approaching the Western Cape High Court for a review in 2021, leading to criticisms that this would delay a much needed reshaping of the sector. In August 2022, the court set aside the rights allocation process, prompting the initiation of a new process.

In this recent round, an impressive 93% of applicants were granted small-scale fishing rights, which are exclusive to fishers in cooperatives. They encompass the authority to fish for subsistence, as well as for commercial purposes, and to engage in processing. Prior to these provisions, only recreational, commercial, and subsistence fishing were officially recognized, leading to a large gap in the market which excluded traditional fishing communities.

Similar fishing rights had been granted to cooperatives in the Northern Cape (2018), KwaZulu-Natal (2019), and the Eastern Cape (2020) in the past, but the Western Cape, from which most of the country’s fishing resources come, has been left out until now.

While fishers welcomed their long-awaited permits, they raised concerns about which species they will be allowed to catch, and what the quotas will be. The DFFE recently reduced West Coast Rock Lobster quotas by over 16% for the 2023-2024 fishing season, prompting unease among fishers.

Rovina Europa, a fisher from Arniston, expressed disappointment, referring to the new permits as mere crumbs, after the lion’s share is taken up by foreign fishing interests and BEE-linked national corporations. Many households on the west coast continue to rely on rock lobster as their primary source of income.

Sue Middleton, deputy director-general of fisheries management, acknowledged that the quotas were not popular but emphasized the need to protect the resource. Current stocks are at unsustainably low levels, partially driven by coastal mining enterprises, which have wiped out several breeding grounds for the rock lobster.

You can read more on this topic on our previous reports here and here.