No More foreign fishers

In 1977, some 200 vessels were granted annual fishing permits for South African waters. More recently, this was reduced to 55 permits for Japanese and 12 for Taiwanese vessels. The bilateral agreement with Taiwan expires at the end of the year and Moosa has announced that the agreement with Japan will be phased out over a six-month period. During this time only 50 permits will be granted to Japanese ships. In order to be granted a permit, vessels will have to comply with regulations such as carrying an observer from Moosa’s department and being fitted with Inmarsat C (Satellite) vessel monitoring equipment that will report the ship’s position to the department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT).

However, South Africa does stand to lose the annual fees of about R9 million paid by the Japanese And Taiwanese to fish for tuna in the waters, the vessels have also benefited ports and harbors that supplies cold storage, refueling and repairing services. But DEAT doesn’t expect these ports to be effected by the decision because many foreign vessels in the Indian and Atlantic oceans still prefer South African ports. Moosa said: “Allowing foreign fishing fleets access to South African waters undermines the ability of coastal developments to create their own fisheries.

There are a number of South Africans who have the ability and knowledge to exploit this valuable resource on a sustainable basis.”