Tag Archives: DAFF

Weekly Press Review – 5 December 2014

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Recreational deep-sea fishermen celebrated a victory in the press this week with the Pretoria high court advising the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Senzeni Zokwana, to reconsider a decision to place a total ban on the catching of red steenbras.

Two years ago red steenbras was placed on the prohibited list, creating a ban on catching.  The Border Deep Sea Angling Association and two other anglers challenged this ban.

The judge ruled in favour of recreational fishermen, saying, “To reach a decision that a total ban is necessary, there must be research indicating that despite the imposed bag limit and closed season, the red steenbras numbers are still declining.  There is simply no such information.”

Concern over rising sea levels has made headlines once again with researchers from the University of California stating that analysis has revealed that the fastest melting part of Antarctica has tripled over the past decade.

Research shows that the melting seems to be speeding up and is irreversible.  The study is the first of its kind, using four measurement techniques to generate and estimate the rate of loss over two decades.

Lead author, Tyler Utterley of UCI said, “Previous studies had suggested this region started to change very dramatically since 1990s.  We wanted to see how different techniques compared.  The remarkable agreement among the techniques gave us confidence we are getting this right.”

The results were released at a global warming conference in Peru.

Weekly Press Review – 28 November 2014

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The plight of local fishermen has made headlines again this week with frustrated fishermen from Western Cape coastal towns delivering a memorandum to the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) demanding the issuing of immediate interim relief permits.

Coastal Links SA, who represent approximately 4,000 small scale fishermen from various coastal towns, and its secretariat, Masifundise Development Trust released a joint statement, saying, “Deep and enduring problems with the interim relief system are playing havoc with the lives of thousands of people.”

“The late issuing of permits, the inclusion of non-fishermen in beneficiary lists and general mismanagement by the department deprives fishermen of sustainable livelihoods and is causing conflict.”

The addition of military support in the war against perlemoen poaching has also made headlines this week with troops now patrolling poaching hot spots in Buffeljagsbaai and Hawston in the company of fisheries officials.

Chief joint operations officer Lieutenant-General Derrick Mgwebi said, “We have a responsibility to protect the maritime resources of South Africa. We do this in co-operation with the SAPS, the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), communities and others involved.”

A self-confessed poacher, not named, said, “People are going hungry because they are too scared to poach while the army is around.”

Japan’s plans to resume whaling in the Southern Ocean have once again made headlines.  Tokyo cancelled its Antarctic hunt earlier this year after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that the decades-old hunt should stop.  The decision was based on an attempt to pursue more sustainable whaling.

Japan has long claimed that most whale species are in fact not endangered and that eating whale meat is part of the country’s food culture.

Pollution along the beach at Melkbos is a hot topic in the press this week as rate payers in the area struggle to keep the beach clean.  Public negligence and ignorance seem to be the main contributors to the ongoing problem as beach-goers simply do not discard their waste correctly in the bins provided.  The result is that over a ton of waste is collected from only 12 city beaches each month.

Weekly Press Review – 21 November 2014

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The handing down of the first jail sentence under the Marine Living Resources Act has made headlines this week, with the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) applauding the outcome.

Huang Zhanyang and Pow Kekun of China pleaded guilty to charges of operating an illegal fish-processing establishment and the illegal possession of abalone.  They were sentenced to three years in jail by the Port Elizabeth Regional Court.

The department was quoted as saying, “This sentence will serve as a major deterrent to anyone who is currently involved in the illegal harvesting, transporting, processing and exporting of our valuable and exploited marine resources, and it gives new impetus to our campaign to protect and grow our marine resources.”

Kreef divers are responding to the new shorter kreef fishing season in the press this week.  Several divers interviewed at Rooiels said that bad weather and murky waters would now no longer have any impact on whether or not to dive.

The season has been shortened from 26 to 21 days and the quota has been dropped from 83 to 69 tons.

Today is World Fisheries Day.  The day is marked around the world by fishing communities through rallies, workshops, public meetings and workshops; all designed to highlight the importance of maintaining the world’s fisheries.  The day also serves as a reminder of the importance of water and the many, many lives that are sustained by our oceans.

 

 

Weekly Press Review – 31 October 2014

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Sekunjalo Holdings is back in the press this week with the announcement that the company will be making a R200 million investment in expanding the portfolio of its fishing and aquaculture subsidiary, Premier Fishing.

Premier Fishing has long term fishing rights in South and West Coast lobster, pelagic and squid and is also the owner of Marine Growers in the Western Cape.

The investment will be done through Sekunjalo Investments.

Also making headlines this week was the announcement by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) that as of 15 November the amount of kreef that recreational fishermen may catch will be drastically reduced, along with the time period in which they have to do it.

The announcement was made by Lionel Adendorf, of the Department of Fisheries, stating that the quota for recreational fishermen for the 2014 – 2015 season would be reduced from 83 to 69 tons and the period for fishing would be reduced from 26 to 21 days.

The news has not been well received by recreational fishers or local community fishermen.

In a case of making the best of a bad situation, it has been reported that lifesaver Achmat Hassiem, who was attacked by a great white shark and lost a leg, some eight years ago has joined the fight to protect these beautiful sea creatures.

Hassiem was attacked while swimming with his brother and although he nearly lost his life, the end result was that he lost his leg.  Since then Hassiem has not only gone on to become and extremely successful Paralympic swimmer, but has also become a passionate advocate for the protection of this now endangered species.

He will be speaking at the upcoming UN Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals in Ecuador.

“It’s my duty to tell people what I’ve gone through.  I believe you can change the world, one person at a time.”

 

 

 

 

 

Weekly Press Review – 24 October 2014

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The Robben Island ferry, Sikhulukile is back in the press this week with the news that Robben Island may be forced to sell its R26 million flagship which has been out of service since December 2013.

The Robben Island Museum has spent more than R5 million on repairs since December 2011 and almost R2.6 million on hire costs for substitute boats.

Quinton Mtyala says, “The Robben Island Museum has mandated the museum management to explore the possibility of disposing of Sikhulukile.”

The fisheries department and rock lobster quotas have once again made headlines this week with the news that the department have drastically reduced this season’s rock lobster catch limit by just under 17 percent.  The reduction is aimed at assisting the recovery of the drastically overfished stocks.

Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), spokesperson Lionel Adendorf said that all stakeholders had been consulted and had accepted the reductions.  However, the recreational rock lobster sector are not as happy with the decision, saying that the 17 percent cut is over and above an already drastically reduced limit.  In addition they have only been given 21 days in which to catch their kreef.

Also covered in the press this week was the start of the fourth naval exercise between South Africa, Brazil and India that took place in Simon’s Town.  The operation forms part of a 2003 agreement between the navies of these three countries designed to promote “South-South dialogue”.  Defence co-operation has been identified as an area of “constructive engagement.”

Rear Admiral Thamsanqua said, “The aim of the exercise is to provide collective training for Brazilian, Indian and South African navies, building mutual understanding between the navies.”

A University of British Columbia study featured in the press this week states that ongoing industrial fishing practices are causing a revolution in the world’s oceans.  Mankind’s ever growing appetite for large fish, such as tuna and shark, has allowed smaller fish, such as anchovy and sardine to flourish.

The decline in predators has allowed the smaller fish to reproduce and increase stocks for generations to come. However, the news is not all good according to lead author of the research paper, Professor Villy Christensen.  Changes in the ocean’s population are upsetting the balance of nature.  The decline in large fish species means a decline in predators which results in an unnatural increase of other populations.

A little slice of history has also made headlines this week, with the discovery of a graphic notebook from the ill-fated Antarctic expedition of Robert Scott.

The notebook was discovered trapped in the ice outside Scott’s 1911 Terra Nova base and belonged to scientist George Murray Levick.

The notebook is now in the care of the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust and each page is being individually preserved.  The trust is working on the preservation of five exploration sites used by Ernest Shackleton, Edmund Hilary and Robert Scott and the notebook will be added to the collection.

Weekly Press Review – 17 October 2014

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The 12 penguins released by SANCCOB at Simon’s Town beach over the weekend made headlines this week.  The birds have been in SANCCOB’s care for the last six to eight weeks for rehabilitation, most suffering from shark or seal bites or general malnutrition.

Only two percent of these penguins still live in the wild.

Over 500 people streamed down to the beach to witness the penguins’ release.

Abalone rights holders made headlines this week amid an outcry over a proposal by the department of fisheries to implement a new catch limit.  The department would like to see the limit altered from the 96 tons of last year to just 43 tons.

Industry representative for the Cape Town area, Andre Cimma, described the proposal as diabolical.  “This is clearly a joke, 43 tons is not commercially sustainable.”

The feeling among industry representatives is that the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) is punishing the legal industry for their own inability to control the ever increasing levels of abalone poaching, which has obviously had a serious impact on abalone stocks.

Weekly Press Review – 27 June 2014

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South Africa’s research ships are back in the news this week, well at least one. The Ellen Khuzwayo has returned to operation and has already completed a number of research projects.

Nautic Africa, one of the companies that was awarded the tender to manage and repair the vessel, has stated that there has been “a significant survey gap” during the seven months that the vessel was inactive.  The vessel is equipped with an acoustic laboratory, hydrology wet and dry laboratories, a wet fish room and an operation’s room and has already made several voyages to gather data designed to determine shark longline quotas.

Also in the news this week, Premier Helen Zille has made the announcement that the aquaculture industry on the West Coast is to be expanded, along with abalone and salmon farming, creating as many as 2 600 jobs and increasing abalone production to 1000 tons per year.

A Taiwanese-owned vessel due to be auctioned by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA)  made headlines this week.  The vessel, either named the Naham 4 or the Derhorng 596, has been under investigation by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) since early 2013 on suspicion of illegal fishing in South Africa’s exclusive fishing zone.

The vessel was detained in April last year, and following the seizure the owners abandoned the vessel, leaving the vessel’s agent with a debt of over R1 million.

According to Godfrey Needham, the ship’s curator appointed by the NPA, about 10 ships have been detained over the past year, but the actual auctioning of detained ships is not a frequent event.

Weekly Press Review – 23 May 2014

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The failed 2013 fishing rights allocation process (FRAP2013) has continued to make headlines this week.  While the audit into FRAP 2013 by Harris Nupen and Molebatsi found no evidence of corruption, the audit did reveal that the process was rushed, flawed, contained “critical lapses” and was driven by the desire for “an appropriate outcome” rather than to meet the needs of the fishery.

The disaster of the 2013 fishing rights allocation process has caused much anger and frustration and has cost the country’s tax payers millions of rands, but where to now?   Let us hope that the mistakes of the last year can be put aside and the new fishing rights allocation process will be well planned, well co-ordinated, well implemented and well received.  One tall order.

Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson herself has been quite outspoken in the press this week.  In an interview with a Cape Town newspaper she stated that, when starting with the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), she had taken over a department “filled with corruption” and that she was shocked by the number of officials living well above their means, adding that she had  chosen to work for the poor.  One can only assume that after making comments along these lines it would be hard to return to work on Monday ….

She also stated that commercial perlemoen quotas needed to be looked at urgently and that changes could be expected as soon as the end of July this year.

It would seem that changes are definitely afoot at DAFF and everyone is awaiting the announcement of ministerial positions.

In other news, after two years in Table Bay harbour, the vessel, the E-Whale, has been sold to a foreign company for $61 million (R637m).  The vessel was arrested in April 2012 after various creditors alerted local authorities of large outstanding debts on the vessel.

A deposit has been made by the company purchasing the vessel and they now have five days in which to settle the outstanding balance before taking ownership.

Tina took two hours of my time

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I  wasted almost two hours of my Sunday by responding to Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson’s invitation to a press briefing to discuss her response to the Public Protector’s report: Docked Vessels.

  • 25 minute drive to town
  • 10 minutes to park and get through parliament security
  • 10 minutes wait
  • 2 minute introduction to panel
  • 6 minutes to read press statement in English
  • 6 minutes to read press statement in Afrikaans
  • 7 minutes of largely inadequate question and answer time
  • 30 seconds of shutting books and watching the panel high tailing it out of the room
  • 10 minutes leaving parliament and returning to car
  • 25 minutes drive home

The Minister should note that should she just wish to issue a statement, that the Department of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries’ website would probably be an appropriate place to publish a press statement. Should she wish to ensure that the journalists saw this – she could even go as far as asking her communications team to send it to their list of relevant reporters.

But to call a press conference and essentially thwart any real engagement with the journalists present is a waste of her time; the panels’ time (consisting of legal counsel and senior communications officers from the Department) and our time too.

And so what was the ultimate crux of newsworthy information at the core of her statement?

“I will be asking the North Gauteng High Court to declare that the Report including the findings and recommendations, are reviewed, corrected and/or set aside.”

Any real questions from the floor were shut down and many left unanswered such as:

  • Has she discussed the report with the president?
  • Should the report, in the main, found to be accurate and should she be appointed in her current position after the elections, would she step down?
  • What of the lack of patrol capacity and state of illegal fishing currently continuing in our waters?

I look forward to reading what the reporters from the dailies write in tomorrow’s paper and will continue to follow the progress of this story as it now proceeds into our court system.

 

Weekly Press Review – 7 March 2014

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The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) is back in the news this week with staff of the fisheries branch handing a document to members of parliament complaining of: wasteful expenditure, fraud, nepotism and the scrapping of critical posts.

Urgent intervention has been called for.

To add to the Department’s woes a large group of people from local coastal towns descended on the city this week to hand over an official memorandum addressed to DAFF Minister, Tina Joemat-Pettersson and director-general Edith Vries, calling for the reinstatement of ousted fisheries chief Desmond Stevens.

Stevens was removed from his position after he was vocal about feeling slighted by the Minister’s comments that there seemed to be “legitimate concerns, either relating to poor administration of the fishing rights allocation process or questionable judgments by the elected officials.” She has called for an audit to investigate the matter.

Those calling for Stevens’ reinstatement described him as accessible and approachable with a “passion about transforming the fishing sector.”

We all know that it is impossible to please all of the people, all of the time, but it would seem that DAFF is unable to please any of the people, any of the time.

On a more somber note, the body Department of Environmental Affairs technician, Johannes Hoffman, who died on Gough Island last week, has been returned to Cape Town. Our condolences to his family and colleagues.

The penguins of the Stony Point Penguin Colony near Betty’s Bay are still being closely monitored this week, after 10 000 litres of diesel was spilled when a fishing trawler ran aground in the area.

About 4,000 penguins and 400 nests of various seabirds were exposed to the spilled diesel and the area was temporarily closed as authorities examined the birds for diesel contamination.

The South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) principal said that fortunately the spilled diesel would eventually evaporate and would not remain an environmental threat forever. That is good news, but does not help those birds already contaminated.