South Africa’s Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson told a closed staff meeting that she would take fishing rights away from South Africa’s “Big Five” fishing firms when they came up for review next year, Business Report says.
The minister reportedly said that the “white” fishing companies who controlled the fishing industry – and enjoyed significant fishing quotas – needed to cede these rights to community fishermen. She promised that the Industrial Development Corporation would be approached to buy fishing vessels, allowing small players to enter the industry.
The Minister told staff of the department’s fisheries division that they should not take notes or record her remarks, but news of her briefing leaked to Shaheen Moolla, a former adviser to previous ministers and chief executive of Cape Town based private advisory firm Feike, who reported the minister’s remarks in a blog.
Moolla said staff present – who included senior management – confirmed that the minister referred to “white fishing companies” that controlled all the fishing quotas. He said taking away their fishing licences would amount to a form of “nationalisation” of the industry”.
FishSA chairman Tim Redell, whose organisation represents commercial fishing companies, acknowledged that the Big Five – Oceana, I&J, Sea Harvest, FoodCorp and Viking – probably controlled about 60 percent of the industry and their share of the industry was growing considerably.
“Consolidation actually is a necessity to survive,” he said. Rams Mabote, the minister’s special adviser, told Business Report: “Officially the minister will not respond to blogs about staff meetings.” He added that the issue of quota rights is a legal issue that will follow “normal due process when the time of allocations comes […] at the end of 2013.”
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