“We were heard. The minister did good work. There is no way that we cannot applaud this procedure.”
If you had asked just about any fisher for their opinion on the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment’s (DFFE) process of awarding small-scale fishing rights a few years ago, chances are a very different answer would have been given. However, as Bridgitte Oppelt, chair of Mitchell’s Plain Fishing Forum, states above, this time around, the department got it right.
In August last year, the Western Cape High Court set aside the 2016-2019 process of awarding small-scale fishing rights in the province.
The Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Barbara Creecy had approached the High Court for a review of the process after an internal audit concluded that the previous verification process was “wholly inadequate”, and that the “results of these assessments cannot and should not be relied on for any decision-making purpose in terms of the regulations”.
The setting aside of the initial process meant that the DFFE was required to re-run the process in a “fair and transparent manner”.
On Thursday 16 March, DFFE announced the final list of declared small-scale fishers in the Western Cape.
Out of over 4 000 verification forms submitted, over 84% of applicants were declared successful.
Going forward, they will be recognised as small-scale fishers in line with the Marine Living Resources Act. Of these recognised small-scale fishers, more than 30% are women, 68% are coloured, 25% are black and three percent are white.
In the previous process, only 31% had been successful.
DFFE spokesperson Albi Modise says the improved success rate is the result of a new approach and improved transparency in the process “which saw improved collaboration with communities and the provision of clear messages to fisher communities”.