The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries says it feels vindicated following this week’s ruling by the High Court in Cape Town which lifted a previous interdict preventing it from awarding permits to existing and new rights holders for inshore trawl fishery for hake and sole. Earlier this year, Viking Inshore Fishing Holdings obtained an interdict to bar 27 fishing companies, including itself, from starting to catch their 2017 quotas. Viking argued that its fishing quotas were cut by 60% despite its empowerment credentials, and that the formula used by the government to allocate new quotas was irrational, unfair and illegal. The company said the reduction in its quota would place its fish processing factory and the jobs of 179 workers in Mossel Bay at risk. The factory has been closed since the legal action began and workers have either been employed outside Mossel Bay or paid to sit at home. Earlier this year, the court concurred with Viking’s arguments, saying the comp...
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