Minister vows to open up access for small-scale fishers
AGRICULTURE, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Senzeni Zokwana has undertaken to forge ahead with plans to facilitate the entry of more players into the fishing sector despite objections.The government is concerned that the sector, which has annual sales of more than of R5bn, remains largely untransformed and dominated by a few companies.Earlier in 2016, President Jacob Zuma signed into law the Marine Living Resources Amendment Act, which recognises small-scale fishermen who were previously marginalised by the process followed in allocating fishing rights.The South African Deep Sea Trawling Industry Association, which represents established operators, dismissed perceptions the industry was untransformed, and said fragmentation or the allocation of fishing rights to more companies was bad for the sector.However, Zokwana told Business Day on Tuesday that over the years the fishing sector had been dominated by a few players, some of whom were not reinvesting in the economy."How are you g...
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