General Policy on the allocation of commercial fishing rights: 2021

This General Policy on the allocation of commercial fishing rights of Fishing Rights: 2021, issued by the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, has the purpose to guide the allocation and granting of commercial fishing rights across all the fishing sectors to whom it applies, according to the Marine Living Resources Act no. 18 of 1998 and must be read in conjunction with policies that will be referred to as the "Fishery sector specific Policies”, adopted for each fishery. Among its objectives, this General Policy aims at ensuring the optimal and long-term utilisation and sustainable development of marine living resources and at preserving marine biodiversity and minimising pollution; at achieving sustainable development of the fishing sector; at stimulating inclusive economic growth and at creating sustainable employment, consistent with the development objectives of the Government. The General Policy attempts to reach these objectives through the setting of a Total Allowable Catch per targeted species in a specific area and a Total Applied Effort of units of time spent fishing, fishing gear, vessel, fishers and other management tools. The transformation of the fishing industry represents a core objective of this General Policy, which is tried to be reached through the an adequate legislative framework.
The following relevant terms are considered relevant: black people or person; applicant; by-catch; catch agreement; codes of good practices; current liabilities; Exclusive Economic Zone; fishery; fishing; fishing rights; family; fronting; landings; quota; targeting; Total Allowable Catch; Total Applied Effort. In the brief profile of the South African Fishery sector, it is pointed out that this General Policy moves from the assumption that oceanography around South Africa is one of the most complex and variable in the world and that fisheries resources are self-renewable, and if well managed their duration is practically unlimited. Part B concerns: 1) the commercial fishing rights allocation process, including application forms, fees and management of applications; 2) the exclusionary criteria, including: improper lodgement, materially defective applications, non-compliant applications, lack of documents and permits, absence of an interest in fishing activities; 3) the balancing criteria, to determine the successful applicants for each fishing sector, including: multi-sector involvement, previous fishing experience, investment capacity, reliance of the applicant, criminal and administrative record, access to a suitable vessel, fishing performance, level of compliance with employment working conditions on fishing vessels and factories; 4) granting of commercial fishing rights, including: Total Allowable Catch, Total Applied Effort and a combination thereof, Fisheries transformation Council, issuance of provisional lists, information to be taken into account, investigations and consultations, cooperation among applicants, exercise of fishing rights, suspension and cancellation. The commercial fishing rights will be granted for a period not exceeding 15 years. Part C concerns monitoring and evaluation of the General Policy, considering social and economic needs of the fishing industry.