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posted by Serge Raemaekers

Sri Lanka's fisheries ministry to provide 1,000 longliners for deep-sea fishing

By Ridma Dissanayake

Sri Lanka's Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Ministry has taken measures to provide 1,000 long liners essential for fishing in deep sea before the end of this year, said Minister Dr Rajitha Senaratne.

He was addressing a ceremony to inaugurate the Hambantota District Fisheries Association at Tangalle Town Hall recently.

"Europeans acquire 48 percent of fish from the Indian Ocean because of their vessels have new techniques. These new long liners will help Sri Lankan fishermen increase their fish," he said.

There are 530 multi-day fishing vessels, 25 one-day fishing vessels, 925 engine vessels and canoes used for the Hambantota sea water fishery industry.

There are 27,500 fisher community members in the Hambantota district and 7,500 of them are fishermen. Among them 2,086 are inland fishermen, the minister said.

Hambantota district Fisheries Association is the 18th District Association.

posted by Serge Raemaekers

Tens of thousands of poached abalone confiscated in South Africa

By Natalia Real

Boxes containing more than 42,600 poached abalone from South Africa were discovered concealed under new duvets in a consignment headed for Singapore.

The abalone, which were shelled and dried, have a street value of ZAR 6 million (USD 891,000) and were confiscated by the Fisheries Department, the Hawks and the South African Revenue Service, according to estimates by fisheries officials, spokesperson Hein Wyngaard said, SAPA reports.

Waning abalone species have been hit heavily by organised crime since 1996.

The container of duvets and perlemoen had left Cape Town harbour on a ship more than a month ago, said Lieutenant Colonel Andrè Traut. Law enforcement officials then received a tip.

“We couldn’t stop the ship, but we put a block on it, the container, through the Singapore authorities,” Traut said, reports Cape Times.

The container was returned to South Africa. No arrests were made.

“We are still pleased with the seizure, and our investigations into the circumstances surrounding the matter could still yield more results. We will continue to fight the illegal abalone trade with the full might of the law, and will not allow criminals to strip our marine resources to enrich themselves,” Traut added.

This constitutes the third bust of its kind and indicates that law enforcement has established solid informer networks, opined Markus Burgener, co-ordinator of the international NGO Traffic in South Africa, which monitors trade in endangered plants and animals.

“It also highlights – yet again – that abalone poaching and the illegal trade is run by highly organised and well-resourced criminal networks. The South African government accordingly needs to devote significant financial and human resources to tackling it, and needs to employ the skills of compliance officials in the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the police, SA Revenue Service, and other national, provincial and local organs of state,” Burgener said.

posted Jun 28, 2011 4:29 AM by REINCORPFISH CoCooN Integrated Project

South Africa's fishing co-ops ‘cause conflicts, fail to help fishers’

By Londiwe Buthelezi

The adoption of the draft policy for small-scale fisheries would only benefit non-fishing individuals such as political leaders, who were the only people who had made money out of the industry, fishing communities complained to the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in Parliament yesterday.

This concern was raised on the first day of public hearings on the draft policy for small-scale fisheries, which proposes to allocate fishing rights to co-operatives.

The fishing communities said co-operatives were often led by mayors and councillors who had no knowledge of, or interest in, the fishing industry.

“We’ve been through this for a long time and many promises had been made in this Parliament but no clear answers (provided),” said Veronica Mngomezulu of the Hout Bay fishing community.

The communities also proposed that the department adopt a fishing charter to protect individual fishers. Communities also said big companies would continue using black fishermen for fronting and would not reward them if there was no immediate intervention from the department.

However, fishing companies said transformation had taken place in the industry over the past decade.

Oceana Group said 50.5 percent of its shares were owned by black people and Sea Harvest claimed that the company was 95 percent black owned.

But communities said they were used as fronts by companies to obtain fishing rights and some of them had never had a single dividend since 2005. “It’s a disgrace to see such numbers being represented this morning, knowing exactly what the situation is as a person labelled as a shareholder myself,” said Den Zantsi, a shareholder in deep sea trout and hake company Xhantilomzi.

Conservation organisations were of the opinion that the commercial fishing sector had transformed to cater for black fishermen in the past decade. These NGOs, however, also objected to the draft policy, saying it was a threat to transformation and that it was fatally flawed.

“It can’t sustain, improve or motivate transformation because its policy of allocating quotas to fishing communities via co-ops is deeply flawed. It will undermine the transformation that has been achieved,” said Shaheen Moolla, the director of Feike Natural Resources Management Advisors, which offers expertise and specialist knowledge on marine environmental management.

Moolla pointed to the South African Community Fisherman’s Corporation case, where fishermen did not earn any money and the failure of the project resulted in them paying administration, management levies and other costs. Moolla said co-operatives led to community-based conflicts because there was a lack of support for small black-owned enterprises at the department.

Bigger fishing companies told the department that their quota allocations were also compromising their competitiveness in the global market.

George Bezuidenhout, the managing director of Sea Harvest, said South Africa was only catching 132 000 tons of deep-sea hake a year, while the world average was 12 million tons.

“Sea Harvest’s quota is less than 0.3 percent of the global quota. Since 2003, deep-sea fishing has not generated enough returns in South Africa,” Bezuidenhout said.

He said the fisheries department needed to address these problems to ensure the fishing industry did not follow the textile industry into a situation where companies closed their doors and people lost their jobs.

The department is expected to respond to these concerns in Parliament today.

South African fishermen cast their hopes on co-op system

posted Jun 28, 2011 4:17 AM by REINCORPFISH CoCooN Integrated Project

A cooperative established with a R3 million government grant given to a group of 120 fishermen in Doringbaai and Ebenhaezer on the West Coast of South Africa, could act as a model for the rest of the country’s small-scale fishermen who have been struggling to sustain their livelihood in the face of fishing quota restrictions.

Doringbaai fisherman, Hahn Goliath, said the divisions and grief the fishing quota system has caused within the community, led the fishermen to approach the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for funding. The grant which was handed over last month is intended for the establishment of ten co-operatives, the purchase of much needed equipment and boats, and courses in health and safety.

Goliath said the 2005 government policy on the Allocation and Management of Long Term Commercial Fishing Rights largely excluded the small-scale fishermen, leading to increased poverty and family breakdowns. He said that large commercial fisheries “took more than half the cake” when it came to quota allocation and that the quotas allocated to small fishermen were hardly enough for them to survive on.

“If fishermen are not successful (in getting quotas), they can’t fish. There are teachers and lawyers with allocations but people near the sea have no income and can’t put bread on the table. You then have children dropping out of school, and the drugs and teenage pregnancies are high. The individual quota system does not empower the people,” he said.

“We are struggling with resources now, but by pulling our resources together (through the co-operatives), we can achieve more,” said Goliath.

By establishing co-operatives, the fishermen hope to re-unite the community and protect their tradition of living off the sea.

“We want to bring back the tradition of small scale fishing, to protect it. We need to … stand together as a collective. We also cannot wait for government. We hope that other fishing communities can take this lesson from us and be inspired (to help themselves),” said Goliath.

Although the fishermen will be involved in running the co-operatives, the group has assigned a respected and knowledgeable community member to guide them in the management thereof. The groups will also receive six months training in budgeting and management from government.

Senior lecturer at the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, Moenieba Isaacs, said the co-operative system would work if the money was used wisely and if the fishermen as a collective could engage with the market. Benefits needed to return to them as a collective rather than one individual managing the co-operative and benefiting exclusively from it.

With the support of DTI and the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), fishers could be trained to manage the co-operatives, said Isaacs. She added that the funding given to the Doringbaai fishermen could act as pilot case study for other fishing communities.

“The money allocated to these communities could implement some of the proposals made in the small-scale policy and act as pilot case studies for many other coastal communities along the coast,” she said.

The small scale policy Isaacs refers to is the draft policy for the Small-Scale Fisheries Sector which was made available for public comment in August last year. Director of Masifundise (an NGO working with small fishing communities), Naseegh Jaffer, who was on the task team to develop the new policy, said it had “sweeping new proposals” designed to accommodate small fishermen, creating equity rather than competition. The proposals include a removal of the quota system, that small fishermen be allowed to catch multiple species of fish rather than just one, and that instead of sharing waters with commercial fishers, small fishermen be given an exclusive zone from which to fish.

Isaacs said the fisheries co-operative could address some of the issues not included in the draft policy.

“A key issue that the small-scale policy is neglecting is what species would be allocated to the fishers,” she said.

Other issues were seeing what value could be added to existing species, the role of aquaculture, the activities of women in the post-harvest sector and linking the co-operatives to tourism in the area.

Provided appropriate skills were given the fishers and extension support from DAFF, the fisheries cooperative could successfully deal with all these issues.

Sri Lanka awaits release of fishermen by Indian authorities

posted Jun 28, 2011 4:17 AM by REINCORPFISH CoCooN Integrated Project

Sri Lanka on Monday said it was awaiting the release of at least 41 of its fishermen and eight boats by the Indian authorities.

Fishermen of about five boats were arrested for allegedly poaching in Indian waters around Tamil Nadu while those in the remaining vessels had come under attack by Somali pirates and were later freed by Indian authorities, Sri Lankan fisheries ministry said.

"We have been informed of them being freed by the Indian coastal guards. They would soon be coming home once the Indians issued their release orders," Narendra Rajapaksa, the fisheries ministry spokesman said.

Transformation in the fishing industry: public hearings (day 2) | Parliamentary Monitoring Group | Parliament of South Africa monitored

posted Jun 28, 2011 3:52 AM by REINCORPFISH CoCooN Integrated Project

http://www.pmg.org.za/report/20110615-public-hearings-transformation-fishing-industry-day-2

Fishermen issue: Sri Lankan Navy retreats seeing Indian ship

posted Jun 28, 2011 3:39 AM by REINCORPFISH CoCooN Integrated Project

An Indian Navy ship on a patrol turned out to be the saviour of a large group of fishermen from here when they were allegedly being chased away by Sri Lankan Navalmen close to International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL), fisheries officials said today.

The fishermen had put out to sea in more than 600 boats yesterday after calling off their three-day old strike protesting detention of 23 fellow fishermen by Sri Lankan Naval personnel on June 20.

As they reached the area close to IMBL, they were chased away by Sri Lankan Navy men who came in their patrol boats, the officials said quoting the fishermen who returned to the shores in the wee hours today.

However, the Sri Lankan Navy men retreated on seeing the Indian Navy ship, they said adding the fishermen also told them they were able to fish without any trouble thereafter.

“We could fish without any problem till mid night and return to the shore,” one of the fishermen told officials.

The fishermen had a good catch as they put out to the sea after a gap of four days, officials said.

Navy and Coast Guard officials said they have intensified patrolling in the region in the wake of arrest of the 23 fishermen by Sri Lankan navy.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had taken up the fishermen arrest issue with Prime Minister and sought his intervention following which Sri Lanka assured that the fishermen would be released soon.

The Rameswaram fishermen withdrew their strike after talks with district and fisheries officials on June 23.

Cooperative is a pilot model for small-scale fishermen

posted Jun 14, 2011 1:16 AM by REINCORPFISH CoCooN Integrated Project

Fishermen carry their boat in from the sea in Doring Bay, 350km north of Cape Town. The fishing community has received a R3-million grant from the Department of Trade and Industry to establish and operate cooperatives. Picture: Patrick Burnett / WCN

Fadela Slamdien

A cooperative established with a R3 million government grant, given to a group of 120 fisher­men in ­Doring Bay and Ebenhaezer on the West Coast, could act as a model for the rest of the country’s small-scale fishermen who have been struggling to sustain their ­livelihood in the face of fishing- quota restrictions.

Doring Bay fisherman Hahn ­Goliath said the societal problems and divisions the fishing quota system had caused within the community had led the fishermen to approach the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for funding.

The grant, which was handed over last month, is intended for the establishment of 10 cooperatives, the purchase of much-needed equipment and boats, and also courses in health and safety.

Goliath said the 2005 General Policy on the Allocation and ­Management of Long-Term ­Commercial Fishing Rights ­largely excluded the small-scale fishermen, leading to increased poverty and family breakdowns. He said large commercial fisheries “took more than half the cake” when it came to quota allocation and the quotas allocated to small fishermen were hardly enough for them to survive on.

“If fishermen are not successful in getting quotas, they can’t fish. There are teachers and lawyers with allocations, but people near the sea have no income and can’t put bread on the table. 

“You then have children dropping out of school, and the scale of drug use and ­teenage pregnancies is high. The individual quota system does not ­empower the people,” said Goliath.

“We are struggling with ­resources now, but by pooling our resources through the cooperatives, we can achieve more.”

By establishing cooperatives, the fishermen hope to reunite the community and protect their ­tradition of living off the sea.

“We want to bring back the tradition of small-scale fishing to protect it. 

“We need to stand together as a collective. We cannot wait for government. We hope that other fishing communities can take this lesson from us and be inspired to help themselves,” said Goliath.

Although the fishermen would be involved in running the cooperatives, a respected and knowledgable community member has been assigned to guide in management. The government will train the groups for six months regarding budgeting and management.

Senior lecturer at the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies Moenieba Isaacs said the cooperative system would work if the money was used wisely and if the fishermen engaged with the market as a collective.

Benefits needed to return to them as a ­collective, rather than one individual managing the cooperative and benefiting exclusively from it.

With the support of the DTI and the agriculture, forestry and fisheries department, fishermen could be trained to ­manage the cooperatives, said Isaacs. She added that the funding given to the Doring Bay fishermen could act as a pilot case study for other fishing communities.

“The money allocated to these communities could implement some of the proposals made in the small-scale policy and act as pilot case studies for many other coastal communities,” Isaacs said.

The small-scale policy she ­refers to is the draft Policy for the Small-Scale Fisheries Sector, which was made available for public comment in August last year.

The director of Masifundise – an NGO working with fishing communities – Naseegh Jaffer, who was on the task team to develop the new policy, said it had “sweeping new proposals” designed to ­accommodate small fishermen, creating equity rather than competition.

The proposals include a ­removal of the quota system, that small-scale fishermen be allowed to catch multiple species of fish, and, instead of sharing waters with commercial fishermen, small-scale fishermen be given an exclusive zone from which to fish.

Isaacs said the fisheries cooperative could address some of the issues not included in the draft policy. “A key issue that the small-scale policy is neglecting is what species would be allocated to the fishers.”

Other issues included the value that could be added to existing ­species, the role of aquaculture, the activities of women in the post-harvest sector and linking the cooperatives to tourism.

DTI media liaison officer ­Bongani Lukhele said the department was not willing to comment.

posted Jun 8, 2011 1:48 AM by REINCORPFISH CoCooN Integrated Project

Red lights flashing for fragile fisheries in South Africa

By LUCKY BIYASE

With estimates that up to 30% of fishing catches worldwide are illegal, a partnership between seafood outlets and the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF) is helping to create awareness about the exploitation of vulnerable marine species.

The Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative (Sassi) is aimed at everyone from wholesalers to retailers and seafood lovers.

"With regard to the restaurant business, we have many partners through whom we work to move from less sustainable to more sustainable seafood options," WWF spokes-man Janine Basson said.

The programme strives to promote compliance with the law through education and awareness, to shift consumer demand away from over-exploited marine species to more sustainable options and to promote marine conservation.

The unsustainable harvest of fish is a global problem that has led to the depletion and in some cases collapse of many of the world's major fish stocks.

The WWF says Sassi helps the business community to realise the potential hazards of business-as-usual. "By shifting their dependence away from over-fished stocks towards more sustainable species, these businesses can improve the reliability of their seafood supply chains," the organisation says.

The programme uses a colour code, resembling traffic lights, to signal the status of various species. A green tag indicates the fish is not endangered, orange calls for caution, while red means the species is badly depleted.

According to Sassi researchers, sustainable seafood can often be of better quality than the less-sustainable or illegal options. "Due to the growing scarcity of over-exploited species, prices for these fish have been rapidly increasing over the last few years."

This year Sassi has introduced a "supporter" programme, under which restaurants that meet a set of minimum requirements receive a Sassi endorsement.

The annual report of the government's Marine Living Resources Fund says millions of rands are being lost to illegal harvesting of various species.

"The income generated from the sale of confiscated assets and fish products for the 2009/10 period was R21-million, for the 2008/9 period R22-million and for the 2007/8 period R39-million," it says. "This serves only as an indication of the value of the confiscated fish products, mostly abalone, and not the total poached figure."

The WWF estimates that illegal fishing could constitute up to 30% of the catch in fisheries globally, and that, since the mid-'90s, SA lost about R2-billion to the poaching of Patagonian toothfish alone.

Players in the industry blame lax government control, too few personnel, poor training and corruption as major reasons for the poaching.

The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries says abalone have long been the target of poaching, resulting in reduced availability of the species for legal fishing.

Poaching, the department says, threatens the long-term sustainability of the resource because it exceeds the safe harvesting rate.

The department says illegally harvested abalone and lobster are traded for drugs in a racket involving Chinese triads and other syndicates.

"Poaching is not an isolated criminal activity, and poachers often work in association with illegal drug dealers and other organised crime elements," the department says.

But poaching is not limited to organised crime syndicates. For some resources, such as abalone, high prices in Asia are the major driver.

But in the case of rock lobster, much of the illegal harvest is sold locally, with illegal harvesters simply trying to supplement modest or non-existent incomes. Industry experts say lobster has become a sought-after dish for special occasions throughout Europe and Asia.

Peter Foley of SA Inshore Fishing, a company involved in the lobster industry, said earlier this year that there were growing fears it could go the same way as the abalone industry, which was closed down in 2006 because of rampant poaching.

According to official figures, about 500tons of lobster are poached annually, but some people in the industry put the figure at twice that amount.

The department says major causes of poaching include subsistence harvesting, paying for drug habits - and just plain greed.

About 6000 Food and Allied Workers' Union members in the pelagic fishing sector started a legal strike in the Western Cape on Friday, the union said.

The union has demanded a relief fund for seasonal workers who are often without work for extended periods of time.

posted Jun 6, 2011 4:42 AM by REINCORPFISH CoCooN Integrated Project

Thousands of South African fishermen to strike

By ALISTAIR ANDERSON

More than 3000 Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu) members employed in the pelagic fishing sector in South Africa, are embarking on a legal strike on Friday, union spokesman Dominique Swartz said.

The union is demanding an allowance of 40% of each seasonal worker's normal weekly wage, about R412,00, for every week of non-production.

Workers will go on strike at 12pm on Friday, at various plants on the West Coast, Gansbaai and Hout Bay.

Negotiations last week, mediated by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, failed to produce a positive outcome between the union and Premier Fishing, Oceana , Gansbaai Marine, Suid–Oranje, Saldanha Group and Marine Products (Foodcorp).

The employer has not yet commented.

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