The South African marine fisheries policy since 1994

Abstract

Marine resources play a major role in sustaining the economy and social development of the nation and contribute to national economy, to employment and security of the local community. The South African fisheries management was conducted largel)' with political default. This denied most fishers access to marine resources. Since the democratic election of 1994, the government was left with the challenge to re-allocate rights in a way that would ensure that the under-presentation of historical disadvantaged individuals (HDl's) in the fishing industry would be corrected. The laws and regulations related to marine fisheries were also revised. The Marine Living Resources Act, No. 18 of 1998 attempted transformation in the fishing industry but lacked clear guidelines which led to litigation and crises in the fishing industry as many fishers were unhappy with the whole process. Marine fisheries policy was established and published in 1997 to address those historical imbalances by introducing the fishing right system of allocating rights to represent the national demographics of the country. This report seeks to describe the theory of the South African fishing industry, policy developments and the current status of permit allocation in South Africa. It will also examine the effectiveness in the implementation of the marine fisheries policy for South Africa. It will focus on the distribution of marine resources for commercial fishing purposes.