Policy on the use of water for aquaculture.

This Policy on the Use of Water for Aquaculture is a sectoral policy document at the national level. The Policy sets the principles to be applied in DWAF’s authorisation procedures for the use of water in aquaculture, resource allocations and pricing, access to water related infrastructure, the establishment of institutional arrangements, internal and external coordination mechanisms, implementation responsibilities, and the development of best practice around this use.
The Policy promotes the equitable industry access and redress. In the policy guidlines, it requests: to set up a system to evaluate the potential use of public water resources and the associated water related infrastructure and assets for aquaculture by ventures that embrace Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) , rural community upliftment, food security, Community Public Private Partnerships (CPPPs); to promote the reflection of equity, empowerment and socio-economic upliftment in licence and authorisation applications for the use of water resources for aquaculture.
This Policy promotes to make aquaculture more productive and sustainable. The core principle of the Policy is to provide an enabling regulatory environment for the use of water for aquaculture under DWAF’s mandate. According to the Policy, this enabling regulatory environment will aim to create accessibility to water resources and the associated infrastructure for the growth of an equitable and sustainable aquaculture sector. The main objectives of the policy are to: (i) Attain this policy’s principles through the establishment of an enabling regulatory environment for the use of water for aquaculture. (ii) Give rise to internal mechanisms, the necessary capacities, and decision making criteria in technical, legal, environmental and social aspects to regulate accessibility and entitlements to water resources and the associated infrastructure required by the aquaculture sector; (iii) Give rise to the establishment of equity, the participation of all demographic groups, social-economic development, human resource development, and poverty alleviation in all instances where the use of water for aquaculture is regulated and facilitated; (iv) Give rise to the protection and conservation of water resources and associated ecologies used by aquaculture in an environmentally responsible manner based on best management practices, monitoring, auditing and accountability; (v) Give rise to the sustainable exploitation of commercial opportunities that rely on the use of water for aquaculture. These opportunities must be equitably proportioned and benefit communities so that the aquaculture sector contributes to the diversity, vitality and long-term viability of local and regional economies; (vi) Guide the water resource tariff measures and arrangements as these relate to the use of water for aquaculture; etc. The Policy promotes the responsible aquaculture practice for the protection and sustainable use of water resources. In the policy guidelines, it indicates that DWAF must insist on the implementation of a Best Management Practicw (BMP) system when issuing entitlements, general authorisations or licences for water resources used in aquaculture. The aspects contributing to the BMP include: •Aquaculture should be correctly positioned and practiced according to the suitability of the water resource, any zoning implications, and the integration of the aquaculture activities with other uses of the same water resource; • Quantitative control measures should be put in place to limit production to levels that can be sustained by the water resource; • Effluent discharge and waste control, as these relate to the water resource, should be controlled and monitored; etc