In a press communiqué Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson says fishing quotas in the Western Cape are due to be reviewed to restore the viability of the sector and allow fishermen to earn a living. The review would restore the viability of the sector and allow fishermen to lead good life. Scores of subsistence fishermen lost their right to fish when the government introduced individual fishing quotas — or individual transferable quotas — to allow falling fish stocks to recover.
She further said that the quotas were too harsh as the law turned subsistence fishermen into criminals when all they were trying to do was feed their families. She thinks that the government may have considered the welfare of big business and consequently sent to jail the most vulnerable groups of our society whose fishing practices are meant to help them survive.
Fishery department is ready to announce a new quota regime that would seek to exempt subsistence fishermen. But it would continue to regulate commercial fishing by setting a species-specific total allowable catch — typically by weight and for a given period — to preserve endangered stocks. Implementing the individual fishing quotas to an overexploited fishery involves reducing fishing capacity, with the unintended result of compromising employment in the industry, as the recovery of fish stocks may take years or even decades, depending on the species involved.
