Black fishermen are outraged by the ‘unfair’ allocation of perlemoen and crayfish quotas, writes Rehana Rossouw
CHARGES of corruption, nepotism and racism have been levelled at the Directorate of Sea Fisheries quota board by irate black fishermen who say they were promised a moratorium on quota allocations until racial imbalances had been addressed.
Representatives of Cape fishing communities said this week the lucrative quotas for scarce catches of crayfish and perlemoen went to large fishing companies, interests not previously involved in the industry, and foreign nationals.
Black fishermen, robbed of their quotas during the apartheid years, found themselves little better off when the quota board released its latest carving of the cake last week.
Fishermen are perturbed that the quota board went ahead and allocated quotas despite calls for a moratorium until the Department of Environment Affairs’ Fishing Policy Commission reported to Environment Minister Dawie de Villiers on the restructuring of the industry.
One of the disappointed groups are Hawston fishermen, who are finding it increasingly difficult to find employment and had hoped for a slice of the perlemoen quota. Many in the tiny fishing village near Cape Town have resorted to poaching to supplement their families’ income.
Hawston community leader Phillipus May said he had lodged an appeal with the board on behalf of fishermen who had applied for quotas and were unsuccessful.
“We are extremely disappointed with the board’s decision. We have been negotiating with them for three years and once again we were rejected,” May said.
May said there were about 120 fishermen in Hawston who had been involved in the perlemoen industry for up to 20 years, and were battling to survive since the quotas were reduced in the past decade to protect the resource.
‘What we find completely unacceptable is the fact that a fishing company like Oceana, which has never been involved before in the perlemoen industry, was given a quota while we, who could prove generations of involvement, were not,” May said.
“We have been assisting with the drafting of new policy, we have had discussions with the poachers and promised them things would improve if they went through the proper channels and applied for a quota, and now this happens.”
Western Cape Fishing Forum representative Andy Johnson charged the quota board was a “rotten empire”. He claimed to have information that people who had not applied were allocated quotas and that foreign nationals were granted a share.
Johnson also claimed that at least three members of the quota board had past links with fishing companies, compromising their impartiality.
“I have written a letter to President Nelson Mandela, asking him to intervene in this fiasco. The quota board has enriched certain individuals and companies at the expense of disadvantaged communities,” he said.
“What we fail to understand is why they allocated the quotas at all last week. The Fishing Policy Commission is handing its report to De Villiers on Saturday and we had asked for a moratorium on the allocation of quotas until that was done. The quota board is assisting in dividing up the spoils before black fishermen get their rightful share.”
The deputy director of Fisheries in the Department of Environmental Affairs, Arno Sluiter, replied: “The board is an independent body appointed by the Cabinet, and the minister cannot interfere in its decisions. We did receive a letter from the Fishing Policy Commission asking for a moratorium, and handed it to the quota board, but we could not insist that they do so.”
He said the quota board was between a rock and a hard place. After the fishing policy commission’s report was handed to the minister, legislation has to be prepared and will probably only reach Parliament in the middle of next year. The board was also under pressure by groups applying for quotas to expedite their applications.
“I am aware of people’s unhappiness with the quotas board’s decisions. All I can do is appeal to them to come forward with their allegations that members of the quota board have vested interests in the fishing industry and that unqualified persons were granted quotas. I can give them the assurance their allegations will be investigated,” Sluiter said.
“We are hoping that the new fishing policy will be all- inclusive, promote the RDP and give a fair shake to those who were excluded in the past. In the meantime, we are in a period of transition and cannot change things too radically overnight.”
* The quota board reduced the total allowed catch (TAC) by 25 percent for both crayfish and perlemoen to protect the resource. During the 1970s, South Africa’s crayfish TAC was 12 000 tons, and last week’s allocation was reduced to 1 700 ton. Almost 90 percent of the catch is exported and local consumers pay far more for the delicacy as a result.