Fishing rights allocations process on trackPRETORIA: The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry is on track to start the fishing rights allocation process. Image courtesy of Stoonn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net The consultative process is in full swing and officially commenced last week as the Draft Revised General Policy on the Allocations and Management of Fishing Rights was released. According to the department, a meeting was also held with representatives from the fishing sector. The purpose and objectives of the General policy, together with the Fishery specific policies includes:
The General and Fishery specific policies are informed by government's key policies, namely the National Development Plan (NDP), the Integrated Growth and Development Plan (IGDP) for agriculture, forestry and fisheries, the New Growth Path (NGP), the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP) and the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme (CRDP). Fishing rights in eight fisheries sectors are expiring in December this year. These sectors are KwaZulu-Natal prawn trawl, demersal shark, squid, tuna pole, hake hand line, white mussels, oysters and traditional line fish. Call for applications are expected to be gazetted in May this year. |