Court interdict puts a tangle in hake fishermen’s nets
The interdict stops 27 fishing rights holders from trawling for hake and sole inshore
Companies and other fishers involved in trawling for inshore hake are now in danger of missing an entire fishing season due to a High Court interdict preventing any businesses from catching the popular fish species, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries minister Senzeni Zokwana said on Friday. Zokwana laid the blame for the serious implications of the court order at the feet of applicant, the fishing and vessel company Viking Fishing, which filed an urgent application for the interdict. The application, granted on Tuesday by the Western Cape High Court, was to halt the fishing rights process as laid out in terms of the department’s newly introduced quota formula. The guideline was aimed at allowing newer, smaller and black owned businesses rights to trawl hake inshore. The allocation for inshore hake trawl fishing — one of the most sought-after quotas — was awarded on December 21, with 12 of the 27 rights being given to new entrants, for a period of 15 years. This did not go down well...
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