Boats lie idle after owners lose rights

TRADITIONAL commercial fishers and boat owners in Kalk Bay, who have been fishing from the Kalk Bay harbour for more than 50 years, feel they have been robbed of their livelihoods in the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment’s 2021 Fishing Rights Allocation Process (Frap).

The aggrieved fishermen and boat owners said there were about 30 boats now idly docked in Kalk Bay harbour. Some have had to close their factories, leaving themselves and their employees without salaries and food for their families.

Many have now waiting for their appeals to be processed since February and have not been able to fish since being denied fishing rights in the 2021 Frap. They said the reasons for many of these rights being refused emanated from small administrative errors.

Kalk Bay traditional fisher Peter Swart said: “I have been fishing on this boat for 53 years. The reason I was denied a right was because my tax clearance was not certified. This was during the Covid-19 pandemic and we could not go in to collect our certificates so they SMSed it to me with the stamp on, but you cannot certify an SMS and that is the reason why I was unsuccessful, even though I scored the highest points in the line fishing sector.”

Boat owner Kobus Poggenpoel said: “How did we manage to get this right in 1994 but not now? I have cancer but this 2021 Frap has been the worst cancer I have dealt with. My crew now does not have work so we can’t pay bills.”

Fishermen Sedick Agmat added that there were only two vessels that received handline licences after the 2021 Frap of all the boats in Kalk Bay, which has been a traditional handline fishing harbour for centuries.”

DA forestry, fisheries and the environment spokesperson Dave Bryant said: “Earlier this year I wrote to the minister to plead with her that she consider granting an exemption to previous commercial rights holders until the protracted appeals process is concluded but did not receive a response.”

Department spokesperson Albi Modise said they understood the plight of the fishers and boat owners. However, it was not possible to grant any form of additional fishing rights to unsuccessful applicants as this would result in over-subscription of the fisheries resources.